Joined As Two
by daiyaonna
Summary: *Chapter Thirteen UP!* What will it take to bring the two young Chibis together? Something drastic that could change their lives forever? *Yaoi Warning* R&R!
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, only the Dragon Ball God Akira Toriyama does. If I had, GT would never have come into existence.EVER!  
  
Author's Note: Please keep in mind that everything in this story is completely made up in my imagination, and probably never happened, although I do have proof that Trunks was in possession of a certain pink bear that is in this story, during GT (although how he received it I completely conceived in my own little brain). I'm in the process of writing further chapters, some of which will probably be yaoi for purposes only known to myself (that and I think that Trunks and Goten make the damn cutest couple!), and that means that the ratings will change! Also, the first part you're about to read was made originally as a short story, but I've decided to add more, so please bear with the extremely long introduction, and I promise that further chapters will be shorter, but still as good. Please review and tell me what you think!  
  
Author's Note 2: This story works through the storyline of Dragon Ball Z/GT(hopefully) and begins when Goten and Trunks are still children. R&R! ^_^  
  
JOINED AS TWO  
  
Chapter One  
  
Three split images of his best friend's face, who was laying beside him, seemed to waver at him, and he blinked, trying to keep himself awake, but when the lavender hair and sapphire blue eyes-that were also drooping low with fatigue-twirled around his face again, he knew he needed sleep. He and his friend had pulled another all-nighter, staying up past their normal bedtime of nine-thirty, and it was beginning to take its toll on the six and seven year old boys who were sprawled out on the floor in front of the television. His friend sighed and rolled over onto his back, smiling secretively to himself as he closed his eyes and blissfully thought of sleep and the dreams that would accompany it. Goten opened his mouth and let out a yawn that sounded more like a drowsy sigh.  
  
"Trunks, don't you think we should." He yawned again before he could finish his sentence and saw the room spinning slowly in circles. Trunks swiftly sat up and punched his younger companion sympathetically in the leg before standing.  
  
"Sure, Goten, buddy.let's go, but be quiet. I think Okaasan and Otousan are sleeping." He glanced at the digital clock on the entertainment stand. "Yep, it's past five in the morning. Otousan should probably be getting up to train, but he doesn't like to be wakened any earlier than normal." Goten snickered at his mention of his father and scrambled to his feet, gathering the pillow he'd lain on while Trunks flipped off the TV before they headed towards Trunks' room, which was a good walking distance away from the den. Goten scooted closer to his friend as they walked silently down the dark hallway of Capsule Corporation, still afraid of what lurked in the dark, but too stubborn to admit he was frightened. Trunks noticed the way he moved closer, almost holding his hand, and he smiled inwardly to himself. His friend could be surprising at times; one minute he was fearless and telling him to attack harder when they were playing their training games and the next, he was scared more than any other six year old would be.  
  
Quietly, they slipped into Trunks' room, still amazed that they hadn't strewn toys from corner to corner, and switched on the light. Trunks slowly dragged himself to his open closet, searching for a loose t- shirt and pajama bottoms while Goten hurriedly ran into the bathroom, toothbrush and toothpaste in hand. A few minutes later, completely decked out in bedtime attire, the two exhausted half Saiy-jins flopped into the spacious mattress, the side near the window occupied by Trunks and the other side by Goten. Trunks quickly turned onto his side and drifted into an easy sleep, but Goten wasn't as fortunate, despite the lack of energy, and he stared wide-eyed at the ceiling. Shadows of things from the outside slid across the wall and the small boy slid further under the thick comforter, shutting his dark eyes tightly.  
  
I wish.I wish Gohan were here.at least he would tell me that nothing is out there, but.Goten gulped as he sensed another flash of something dark, something that he knew wasn't made flesh but still there, lingering. But I can feel it, and.I'm scared.He squeezed his eyes tighter, making the darkness under his eyes appear as blinking lights of color and gradually slipped into his dreams, still plagued by the haunted feeling that something terrible was going to happen.  
  
"Goten!" The voice sounded in pain and choking.  
  
"Goten! It.it.hurts!" He suddenly found himself in familiar surroundings, with the trees standing tall and proud in the bright sunshine, and he saw his friend lying on the ground, holding his stomach as he writhed in pain and moaned. The evidence of how badly it hurt him was written across his rather pale face, and his once shining lavender hair was dull and clinging to his sweat soaked skin. The scene whirled around, making him dizzy, and he watched as another image took place, leaving him holding his breath.  
  
Trunks was leaning over the sink in the bathroom, retching into it with such force that it looked as though he were heaving his insides out. The thick color of crimson decorated the edges of the gleaming counter and spotted his pale, shaking lips as another spasm took him by storm. Goten could make out the sounds of crying and childish whimpering which struck his heart with sympathy. It took him a little longer to realize that it was his friend who made those sounds, and knowing that Trunks was usually too tough to admit weakness through tears, his mind told him something was wrong. He reached out with a hand, thinking to touch him, but he found the room empty and his hand full of blood, the syrupy texture of it sliding between his chubby fingers. When he looked down to where it dripped steadily onto the floor, he found his friend sprawled on the ground, his mouth open in a silent scream of pain, dead.  
  
"NO!" he screamed, sitting up in a rush of air as the image throbbed freshly in his mind. The sunlight filtered through the curtained window, streaking the bed that they lay on with beads of light, and Goten sat in the twisted sheets and blanket, trying to breathe. He furtively snuck a glance to his left and found his friend still sleeping, a calm expression on his face, and he sighed, struggling to get out of the prison he had created while dreaming. He stumbled towards the bathroom, where his bag of clothes and other items a six-year-old thought necessary for a sleepover were at, and quickly shut the door before turning on the shower. Once he had washed off the remainder of sweat that hadn't cooled, he got out, expertly drying off with one of the towels that hung on a rack, and got dressed as fast as possible, pulling the long sleeved undershirt and orange gi pants on before grabbing the other shirt that went over it and heading out to the bedroom. Trunks was still asleep, and he slipped out of the door, heading down towards the kitchen where he heard Bulma talking and the smell of breakfast was evident.  
  
"Oh, absolutely, Chichi-chan. He's been the best, as far as little boys go, and Trunks has actually been well behaved. I'm sure it won't be a problem if he stays here, but I'm not sure if he brought enough.Oh, okay, that'd be fine." Goten stuck his head through the entrance and found Bulma talking on a cordless phone, frying rice as she spoke. She turned to reach for something on the table and found Goten staring at her. She smiled and made the gesture of wanting to know if he wanted to speak with his mother, and he nodded, holding out his hand as she handed it to him.  
  
"Moshi moshi, hello, Okaasan." His mother sounded extremely happy to hear his voice.  
  
"Konnichi wa, my little Goten, are you having fun?!"  
  
"Hai, Okaasan. Is there something you wanted to tell me?" Chichi told him to hold on and he could hear her yelling for his older brother to wake up. Goten grinned to himself, knowing that Gohan was already awake, either meditating or warming his body up for that day's activities.  
  
"Hai, Goten, honey. Gohan and I are going to go out for a while. I'm planning on enrolling him in school, and I need to be there to do it, and since the school's a long distance away, I've asked Bulma-chan if she wouldn't mind watching you while I was gone. Is that alright with you, sweetheart?" Goten nearly leapt into the air as his mother told him. Staying an extra day with Trunks meant a free day of no chores, and the thought of that excited him, but when his mind remembered the dream, he hesitated.  
  
"Sure.I guess, Okaasan." He tried to sound pleased, like he really wanted to stay, but he didn't know if he had succeeded.  
  
"Alright, I'm going to have Gohan bring some things over for you, okay?" He nodded absently to himself.  
  
"Okay, sayonara, Okaasan. Aishiteru." He could hear the sincerity in the way she spoke to him.  
  
"Aishiteru, Goten-kun. Have fun, and be good!" Chichi hung up before he had a chance to say anything else, and he handed the phone back to Bulma as he slid into a chair. There was silence, and Bulma tried to make conversation as she gave him a bowl of her rice. It wasn't as good as his mother's, no one seemed to cook as good as she could, but it was sufficient.  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Goten-kun, did you sleep well?" The little boy looked up into her blue eyes and was about to tell her about his strange dream, when he heard Trunks' begging voice and Vegeta's stern shout as they entered the kitchen. His father had him by the top of his head, nearly ripping his hair out as Trunks struggled to get away.  
  
"Please, Otousan, I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't mean to! Owww!!" Trunks stopped squirming as Vegeta increased his grip and lifted him an inch off the ground so that he was standing on his toes. Goten swallowed a huge gulp of rice and looked nervously at Bulma, whose face was twisted into a mix between surprised confusion and anger.  
  
"Well, brat, explain to me why you did it, then!" Vegeta commanded, lifting the seven-year-old boy up higher, completely taking his small body off the floor.  
  
"I.I." Bulma swerved around the table and smacked her husband with the rubber spatula she had in her hand.  
  
"Vegeta! What do you think you're doing to our son?! Put him down right now, or I'll." He released his grip and Trunks nimbly landed on his feet, backing away with speed as his father glared at his mother. Goten shot a look at his friend and he only shrugged, rubbing his fingers through his hair as he soothed the spot his father had injured.  
  
"Woman, if you ever."  
  
"Don't you tell me that, Vegeta! I've seen enough of your abusive behavior! If you must punish Trunks for something he did, all you have to do is yell at him or ground him. But if I ever see you touching my son in any." Vegeta glared at the woman in front of him, ignoring the two boys who watched with awe.  
  
"Your son?! Woman, how in the hell do you think you had him?! He's my son as well and I say that the only way to punish him is to physically make him understand! He's a Saiy-jin and Saiy-jins."  
  
"He's only seven years old, Vegeta, not an adult! Maybe if he was a little older, then it would be okay, but he doesn't understand any of that! How do you know he can handle it?!" Bulma had her hands on her hips and was scowling death at Vegeta. The man was completely insufferable.  
  
"Woman, you don't know anything about your son! He's a lot stronger than you think and if I feel like teaching him a lesson in proper Saiy-jin behavior, then I will not hesitate to-!" The doorbell rang, interrupting him before he could finish. Bulma looked over at her son as it rang again.  
  
"Trunks, honey, take Goten with you and answer the door." He hastily agreed, literally dragging the younger boy from his seat and the bowl of rice by the collar of his shirt. When they were a few feet down the hall, Trunks released his gi.  
  
"What'd you do that for?!" Goten yelled as he scrambled to catch up with his friend.  
  
"Goten, trust me. You don't want to be in there when they start throwing things. It's a complete war zone." Trunks looked at him as they hurried to the front door, quickly passing the living room that they had watched movies in, and sighed. "Chibi, don't be mad at me. I didn't hurt you did I?" He watched as that riled Goten.  
  
"No! But.but Trunks-kun, what'd you do to make Vegeta angry?" Trunks rolled his eyes and hit the button on the control panel that controlled the front door.  
  
"He found out that we had been in the Gravity Room after he'd gone to bed because I accidentally left the gravity machine on." Goten's mouth opened into a big 'o' as the door slid to the side and he found his older brother standing there, a bag in his hand and his hair golden instead of onyx. The boys stared at him in wonder as to why he was Super Saiy-jin, but shrugged it off as he returned to normal, his yellow hair fading to its original charcoal color and the turquoise eyes changing to black. He held out the bag, but Goten and Trunks tackled him, sending Gohan to the ground as they hugged him.  
  
"Gohan!" they screeched, clinging to him as if there was no tomorrow. Gohan smiled brightly and easily shoved them off, brushing his clothes off as he stood.  
  
"It's good to see you guys, but I can't stay, or else Okaasan will be angry at me for being late. Goten, here are your things, and Okaasan said not to get into trouble. Do you understand?" Goten grabbed the bag and nodded bravely.  
  
"Hai, absolutely. Gohan.before you leave.how'd you get here so fast?! I was only talking to Okaasan a few minutes ago!" Gohan smiled and shrugged.  
  
"Don't worry about it, little brother. I know Okaasan better than you think, and I already had this ready to go. All I had to do was fly it over, and I sorta hurried by changing into a Super Saiy-jin." To prove his point, he powered up again and hovered in the air. "Well, I better get going! Sayonara, Goten, be good! Sayonara, Trunks-kun!" And with that, he blazed off into the sky, the golden power of his Saiy-jin aura circulating him in thick rifts as he disappeared into the horizon. Goten squeezed the straps to his bag and looked at Trunks, who had a sad look on his face. He knew that his best friend loved his brother almost as much as he did, and got to see him less often.  
  
"Hey, Trunks-kun, why don't we go see if Gohan put anything good in here, okay? Does that sound fun?" Trunks slowly nodded as they went inside the house and headed for the kitchen once again, hearing that it was silent and no one was arguing.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds cool, but first I want to grab something to eat, I'm sorta hungry. How about you?" Even though Goten had already eaten a bowl of rice, he was still starving; it was just his genetic code for being half Saiy-jin, which was, in other terms, an eating monster when they weren't fighting. He nodded quickly.  
  
"Yeah! Your mom gave me some food, but I didn't get to finish eating it." He quieted when Trunks snuck a look around the corner and found the kitchen empty. Everything was spotless, no broken plates or bodies on the floor, and even the stove that had been covered in rice was shining. He immediately thought that he didn't want to know where his parents had wondered off to and what they were doing. It was disturbing and rather disgusting to even try and think about it.  
  
"Umm.okay, Chibi, the coast is clear. Let's find something to eat and head back to my room," he said while walking to a cabinet under the long counter. While Trunks shuffled through bags and boxes of things, Goten nervously clutched at his bag and looked at his friend's back.  
  
I wonder if the dreams I had are telling me something? he thought to himself as Trunks stood up with several boxes in his hand. He was beaming with pride and Goten timidly returned the smile.  
  
"Pop tarts! A whole bunch of them, too! Chibi, would you mind opening the frige for me?" Goten was still thinking about what the dreams meant and if they were really trying to give him hints as to what was supposed to happen and he didn't hear Trunks until he shouted his name.  
  
"Huh? What did you say, Trunks-kun?" Trunks rolled his eyes.  
  
"I said would you open the frige for me? There should be some jugs with chocolate milk in them in there and I can't do it because my arms are full." Goten complied and a few minutes later, they were carrying boxes of pop tarts and milk to Trunks' room, laughing mischievously like all small children do when they've completed something. As they dumped the pop tarts onto the floor and sat amidst them as they began to rip into the boxes and eat, Trunks looked over at Goten with a full mouth and watched him. He was ravenously eating through several pop tarts at once, as if he hadn't eaten in a very long time, and had a solemn expression on his face as he chewed.  
  
I wonder what he's thinking about? He's never looked that serious before and.  
  
"Trunks-kun, can I ask you something?" Goten asked, startling him. Trunks swallowed and nodded as he reached for the cup that he'd poured milk into.  
  
"Sure, Goten, buddy, what is it?" Goten looked nervously at his empty package and sighed.  
  
It's now or never, Goten, he thought to himself. So.just do it! He looked over at Trunks.  
  
"Umm.well, you see.Trunks, have you been feeling okay? I mean, your not sick or anything?" Trunks gazed at him quizzically over the rim of his cup.  
  
"What'd ya mean, Goten? I've been fine, and besides, Saiy-jins don't usually get sick, you know that." Goten smacked himself mentally.  
  
"Uh, yeah, I know, but."  
  
"Will you just spit it out already?! Tell me what it is you want to ask me!" Goten gulped and shoved the boxes of pop tarts away. He couldn't tell Trunks about the dreams he'd had, he would think he was crazy, and he didn't want his only real friend scorning him. He shrugged and reached for another package.  
  
"It's nothing, never mind." Trunks scowled at him and taking his cup, which was still half full, launched it at Goten, watching with satisfaction as the brown liquid splattered on his head and ran slickly down his face and dripped onto his chest. Goten jumped up with a yelp, and tried to shake the milk off. He turned to look at his friend, who was rolling on the ground, holding his sides as laughter burst from him, and he stomped his foot, causing the walls to rattle slightly with the force he'd exerted.  
  
"Trunks, that wasn't funny! What'd you do that for?!" Trunks, still too strangled with laughter, didn't reply and Goten walked over to him, scooping up a gallon jug that wasn't empty and began to pour it all over him, making sure that some of it cascaded into his wide open mouth. He sat up sputtering, nearly choking as he gagged on the milk, and he glowered at his companion, who was smiling evilly at him.  
  
"Goten, you little." Trunks' hand lashed out for anything he could throw at him, and his fingers enclosed around the contents of a half eaten pop tart, which he swiftly chucked at Goten. Goten didn't see the object flying with great speed at him, and staggered backwards as the sharpest corner of the breakfast food smacked him in the middle of the forehead. A slight trickle of blood erupted from the already forming knot, and Goten rushed at him, wrestling him back to the ground. The boys rolled and kicked at each other, punching when they could get a chance and screaming insults at one another the whole time. Goten uppercut Trunks in the jaw and flipped from his grasp, leaving the other half Saiy-jin to nurse his bleeding mouth. Trunks sneered at him.  
  
"I'm going to get you, you little-!" At that moment, Bulma opened the door, a basket full of Trunks' laundry in her hands, and screamed.  
  
"What do you two think you're doing?! And Trunks, why are you and Goten all covered with chocolate milk?!" Bulma watched as the two children leveled from a practiced fighting stance to a regular standing position and looked sheepishly around at the mess they had created. Picture frames had fallen from the walls and had shattered from the output of their energy when they had been brawling and milk was splattered over everything, including themselves. They had also given each other a pretty good-sized bruise, Goten near the center of his forehead and Trunks at the side of his jaw, near his mouth.  
  
"Well, I'm waiting, Trunks!" He swallowed noisily and glanced at Goten. He was shaking his head and whispering something to himself.  
  
"Umm.Okaasan, I.we were just." Goten interrupted him.  
  
"We were just playing, Bulma-chan. We didn't mean to make a mess, honest." Bulma's frown faded into a small smile.  
  
"It's okay, Goten, but who started this little "game" you were playing? This room is a mess!" He closed his mouth and stared at Trunks, who shrugged. Bulma caught the movement and sighed.  
  
"Alright, Trunks Briefs, you're going to scrub this room spotless, and when you're done with that, I've some other things for you to do!" Trunks' mouth dropped open and a squeak admitted from him.  
  
"B-but Okaasan.Goten, he-he." Bulma shook her head and her finger at him as she sat the basket down.  
  
"Don't you 'but Okaasan' me, young man! Either you do it or.or I'll have your father deal with you. I'm sure you wouldn't like that, now would you, Trunks-kun?" Trunks sighed and responded with a murmured 'no', leaving Goten wondering and his mother nodding her head.  
  
"Very well, Trunks. Have this cleaned up before lunch while Goten and I do some other things. Alright?" Goten perked up at the mention of his name and wearily, Trunks murmured again, grimacing hatefully at his younger comrade. After they left, Trunks flopped down onto the ground from where he stood and punched the floor. He could feel the room vibrate slightly.  
  
"This is so unfair!!"  
  
Goten sighed slowly and looked at the television with blank interest. It had approximately been an hour since Trunks had gotten in trouble, and he was extremely bored, not to mention lonely. Bulma hadn't really wanted to do anything with him; she'd only wanted to get him out of the room so her son could concentrate on doing what he was told and not be distracted. He hated it when there was nothing to occupy him over a long period of time. The thought of playing one of the training games he and Trunks had created entered his mind, but only briefly. It wasn't any fun if he played alone; there was just no challenge in it.  
  
This is really boring. Maybe I should have went with Okaasan and Gohan. At least I would've had something to do, then. The boy exhaled again and slid off the couch before walking to the three-paned glass window, staring out at the bright horizon as he rested his chin on his hands and his elbows on the sill. As he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind, thoughts of the dream from the night before enter his subconscious, and he pushed onward through them, unafraid to stop because he had to know the meaning of them. He flashed past the first image quickly and the second one even faster, not liking the scenes or the sounds that he could remember. The only one left was the third and final part of the nightmare, leaving him stranded again, as if he were sleeping.  
  
This time, he stood in a pool of rich blood, fountains of the red life fluid squirting from places too dark to see and he felt its sticky substance running through his hair and dampening his gi as it reached his fingers and trickled through them. His hands clenched nervously, blood still welling from the tiny cracks in his closed fingers, and he stepped forward, crying out as his foot sunk deeper into the lake of red and it began to pull him down. He struggled away from it, pleading to escape, but his ministrations were meaningless and he was sucked under, tumbling into ultimate darkness. When he could open his eyes, his senses immediately alerted him of a smell he knew all too well.  
  
Death. It clung to his brain, wrapping its heavy essence around him, and he screamed as he had before, shouting for something that wasn't there, but he still went unheard. Frantically he began to run, doors appearing on either side of him as he sprinted towards nothing. It seemed to happen in slow motion, as if it didn't matter how fast he ran, and he watched the twisting portals warp into faces, some he knew and others he didn't. They were yelling at him, blaming him over and over, saying that it was his fault, and he didn't understand, couldn't understand, because he knew not of what they spoke. Shrieking in inhumane rage, he summoned his Saiy-jin strength and blew it all away, pouring large quantities of his life force into the ki blasts that obliterated everything, leaving him, as before, in a silent, somewhat peaceful, darkness.  
  
Sobbing in a helpless manner, and too exhausted to care, he slipped to the invisible floor, curling into a tiny ball as small sounds walked towards him. He lifted his head a moment later when it stopped and found shoes he knew all too well before him, a gi he recognized instantly, a face that he remembered forever, staring at him, grief and pain reflecting in the depths of his eyes.  
  
"Trunks?" he wept bitterly, scared and afraid, the smell of blood and death still clinging to him. His friend smiled silently at him and held out a hand, wanting to help him up. As he took it, and shuddered at the icy depth in which the touch struck him at the center of his soul, he found himself in another place, the dream version of his friend pointing ever voicelessly towards the door in front of them. Goten walked forward, slower than he had need to, and watched as the wavered images of Trunks' bedroom floated past him, scattering his thoughts even more. When he stopped to look back, the ghostly apparition urged him onward, pointing again at the opening. Swallowing his fear, he continued on and swung the half closed door aside.  
  
The reality of what he saw finally clicked into his brain, and he backed into the now shut door, startling himself further. The same image of his companion was there, heaving into the sink as blood flowed constantly from his strained mouth and when Goten reached forward, wanting to help him, the body turned to face him, blood still running from the corners of his closed lips and spilling onto his already stained gi. Goten's eyes widened as the ghost grasped for him, making him move even further back, and his ears pounded with the words that tumbled from his lips.  
  
"H-help m-me, G-goten. I-it's killing-g m-me! I'm.I'm dy.ing." He pressed his hands to the sides of his head, covering his ears.  
  
"No! No, leave me alone! Leave me.alone!!" Suddenly the things he had seen began to fly from him, as he was pulled backwards. The words of his friend echoed loudly in his heart as he shut the sight from his mind.  
  
I'm dying, Goten-kun. It's killing me! Stop it, stop it before it's too late! Help me.help me.Chibi.Chibi.  
  
"Chibi.Chibi, wake up! Come on, Chibi, wake up!" A rough shake jerked his eyes open and he found Trunks' serious face staring at him, the things he had imagined rushing through his head as he pulled away.  
  
"No, don't touch me! Get away, get away!" he gasped, pushing at the hands that reached out for him, and he fell off the couch, unaware that he was no longer at the window. He hit the floor with a thud and continued to scramble away, making Trunks confused.  
  
"Chibi, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Goten finally realized that he was no longer dreaming and breathed in air, trying to calm his pounding heart and he looked at his friend, relieved that there was no pale skin, sweat, or blood anywhere on him. He shakily got to his feet and shuddered. He could still feel the touch of coldness on his tingling fingers and the faint stench of blood still wafted in the air.  
  
"Yeah.no.um, I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled quickly, avoiding Trunks' persistent stare.  
  
"Goten.Chibi, what's wrong? Come on, you can tell me.I'm your best friend." He took another breath and looked at the floor.  
  
"I.I dreamed about someone I know dying.I.it's nothing, so.don't worry about it, okay?" Trunks raised a questioning eyebrow at him and then shrugged.  
  
"Oh, well, if you don't want to talk about it.I'm done with my room, so.do you want to do something? We still haven't checked out your bag, yet," he replied hopefully. Goten shook his head and sat back on the couch, his legs dangling over the side as he looked over at the window. He hadn't even made it there, he realized suddenly, he had dreamed that part as well. He sighed.  
  
"No, let's just forget about that. Hey, do you wanna go play one of our training games? I feel like doing that more." Trunks jumped onto the cushion beside his and smiled excitedly.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds cool! Hey, but.where do you think we should do it? I mean.Otousan is still mad at me for us being in the Gravity Room, and Okaasan.well, she's still mad, too." He nodded absently, still slightly shocked at what he had seen. There was no way he could've made them up, his imagination wasn't that creative, so.what were they? "Goten, are you sure your okay? You look like something bad happened.like, um.I don't know.like somebody really did die." Goten's face paled.  
  
"Don't say that! Come on, let's go outside and play there. No one will be able to find us." He scurried to the door, leaving Trunks alone only a moment to ponder the situation before he jumped up and ran after his friend, eager to put the events of the past day behind them.  
  
"Aww, Goten, that's the fifth time you missed blocking the exact same punch! Why aren't you focusing? I know you can beat me at this game." The children had been fighting for nearly two hours and Goten's mind wasn't even close to thinking about what they were doing. He was still occupied by the shocked thought of his friend dying and him not being able to save him; it blew everything he knew about friendship, fighting, and technique out the window, after shattering the glass. Goten flipped back up to his feet and absently wiped at the small stream of blood running down the side of his mouth.  
  
"Gomen nasai, Trunks-kun, I guess you're just too fast for me, like in all the other games." Trunks rolled his eyes and sighed, feeling the drip of sweat coursing slowly down the back of his neck as he watched his friend fight an inner battle and lose. If he could only get Goten to open up and tell him, then maybe he wouldn't be so worried. He knew that the six-year-old never lost the game where they took turns completing martial arts combos on each other, seeing who could land a blow first, because he was always more thrifty than him and came up with things he had never even seen, but he just wasn't cutting it with the seriousness and inattentive look on his face.  
  
"Goten," he addressed, walking over to him. "Chibi, if you don't tell me why you're not paying attention to a game I know you can beat me at, then.then I'm going to have to take drastic measures." Goten's eyebrows raised and he looked into his friend's eyes. The same words seemed to shine from within there depths. I'm dying.It's killing me.He stared, mesmerized, into the swirling blue ocean, sweeping further away from reality.  
  
"I don't know what you mean, Trunks-kun. Nothing's wrong." Inside, his thoughts were completely different. What are you trying to tell me? I don't understand any of it.I'm too young.  
  
"Goten, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about.now, spill it or I'm going to do something you're not going to like." When he didn't answer, Trunks caught him in a headlock and wrestled him to the ground, his fingers finding the ticklish spot along Goten's ribs. Goten immediately began to laugh, squirming as he tried to get away, but Trunks held him down.  
  
"Now.tell me.or I'll." Goten bucked and tears slid down his cheeks as the teasing increased and he finally gave in.  
  
"Al-alright! I give up.I'll tell you!" He pushed him off and sat up, wiping at the happy tears on his face. "I.I don't know if you'll believe me, but.I've been having these weird dreams and I think you're.you might-?" He heard someone shouting his name in the distance and recognized it immediately. It was his brother!  
  
Trunks looked around as the voice grew closer and a wide smile brightened his features when he saw the elder demi Saiy-jin fly into the small clearing behind Capsule Corporation, the wind beating down his usually crazy black hair and pressing the loose blue gi against the fine outline of his well trained body and muscles. Goten breathed a heavy sigh of relief at the perfect timing of his brother's arrival and jumped to greet him as he landed. Trunks was already in his arms, hugging the life from him as Gohan laughed amusingly, returning the small boy's affection. He craned his neck over Trunks' lavender hair and smiled at his younger brother.  
  
"Konnichi wa, Goten-kun. Have you been good, like Okaasan said to be?" he asked, setting Trunks to his feet despite his whimper of a protest.  
  
"Hai, Gohan, I have. Are you done already?" His brother nodded and ruffled the boys' hair.  
  
"Yep. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, and Okaasan told me to bring you home." He noticed the depressed look on both of their faces and quickly added, "She also said that Trunks-kun, here, could spend the night if he wanted to." They instantly brightened and began to blabber to one another too fast for the teen to keep up. He rolled his eyes. "Well, let's go and see if Bulma will let him and we'll be on our way, okay?" Trunks and Goten eagerly nodded, forgetting their training games and the dreams that kept them distanced.  
  
"Okay!" Goten and Trunks exclaimed loudly together, rushing in a racing match to see who got to the door first. Goten beat him barely by an inch and slammed the door open, running directly into Vegeta. He flew back and smacked into Trunks who, in tern, fell to the ground. Vegeta crossed his arms and glared hatefully at his child.  
  
"Brat, your mother wants you." And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving them staring wonderingly at him before Gohan walked up to them, breaking their gazes. They didn't give him a chance to ask as they sped through the house, at last finding Trunks' mother in her lab. Bulma looked up from her computer and smiled as two small half Saiy-jins followed, moments later, by an elder one entered through the doors.  
  
"Well, Konnichi wa, Gohan-san, it's quite a surprise to see you come in after these two little monsters." She winked at them for emphasis. Goten and Trunks grinned ear to ear at her jest.  
  
"Konnichi wa, Bulma-chan. Listen, if it isn't too much trouble, could Trunks come over and spend the night with Goten? Okaasan said it wouldn't be a problem and it would be her way of paying you back for watching Goten today. Plus, I wouldn't mind having him over, either." Trunks looked shyly up towards Gohan at his words and just stood there. It was surprising for Gohan to talk about him this way, since he hadn't before. Bulma typed something into her computer and shrugged.  
  
"I don't know, Gohan. My son seems to have a little problem with controlling himself. Isn't that right, Trunks-kun?" Trunks' shoulders slouched, but he went to his defense.  
  
"But Okaasan, it was an accident, and I already got punished for it. Please let me go to Goten's. I won't cause any trouble and I'll be good, I promise." Goten chimed in.  
  
"Yeah, Bulma-chan, we'll both be real good, and we'll have lots of things to do, so we can't get into trouble. Please let Trunks-kun come over. I don't have anyone to play with except for Gohan and he can be no fun." Bulma glanced at the children's puppy-dog eyes and faces, not to mention the disturbed look on Gohan's face when his younger brother had said he was 'no fun', and started to chuckle.  
  
"Alright, alright, you can stay, but if I hear one bad thing from Chichi-chan about you, I'm going to have Vegeta deal with you, and I won't interfere. Understand?" Trunks nodded quickly and glanced at him.  
  
"Come on, we have to get our stuff ready, and then we can go to your house." Goten smiled his agreement and they took off at Saiy-jin speed, leaving Gohan to tell Bulma good-bye, although she had gone back to typing on her computer. He rolled his eyes as he shut the door and sighed. Some things were just hopeless.  
  
Goten sat, half pouting, on the back of Nimbus as he, Trunks, and Gohan sped along through the air, trying to reach his home in the 439 mountain area, with his heavy bags on his lap. He watched as Gohan teased Trunks into a relentless tag and chase as they flew, the seven year old mercilessly being tormented by the seventeen year old as Gohan flipped behind him, avoiding Trunks' grasp. It made him mad to think that his friend, who wasn't even an entire year older than him, could fly and he couldn't, leaving him content to sit on Nimbus and take his time riding, as if he were on a tour bus. He saw Trunks fly under the bright yellow cloud before his anger completely busted through the roof.  
  
"Gohan! It's not fair! How come Trunks can fly and I can't?!" Gohan immediately slowed his flight and swerved in to fly beside his brother.  
  
"Don't worry, Goten. You'll be able to fly just like him when you take the time to learn it. Do you want me to teach you?" Goten's face altered from angry to a huge Son grin.  
  
"Oh, absolutely! Will you, Gohan? Huh? Huh? Huh?" The elder sibling smiled tenderly at his little brother's enthusiasm and nodded as he reached out a hand and ruffled his already messy hair.  
  
"Sure thing, little brother, but I don't think we should do it until after Trunks leaves. That way, I'll have my full attention on you, and not both of you rascals. Okay?" Goten beamed his joy once again, and smirked evilly at his best friend, who was flying low beside Nimbus.  
  
"Hey, Trunks, did you hear that? Gohan said he'd teach me how to fly. Isn't that cool?!" Trunks rolled his eyes, but not so Goten could see him do it.  
  
"Yeah, sounds like fun," he replied without much interest. "Maybe afterwards, you can try and kick my butt when we're playing our games." Goten nearly jumped off the cloud at Trunks in a desperate attempt at a lunge, and Gohan put a hand to his shoulder, steadying both him and Nimbus.  
  
"Woah there, squirt. Try to take it easy or you'll be learning nothing, fast." Goten settled back onto the cloud and sighed heavily, still disliking that Trunks could fly. Why did he always have to be left out? As he thought about it, a terrifying notion struck him.  
  
What if.what if, when I learn how to fly.I end up killing him, like in those dreams?! What if being able to fly makes me too strong and I.I destroy my best friend in the whole world?! Maybe I shouldn't learn to fly, just incase.Goten sat quietly pondering the new situation as the small domed cottage came into view and Gohan exclaimed loudly,  
  
"Looks like Okaasan has already started making dinner! I can smell it all the way up here!" Trunks snickered at his exclamation about food, knowing Gohan was just as crazy about it as he was, and elbowed Goten to get his attention. He didn't like it that his usually rambunctious friend was now almost always silent and in too deep of a thought to pay an interest to things around him, and he worried. Whatever it was he was thinking about, he knew it had to do something with the incident earlier that day, when he had woken him up. Goten smiled vaguely at him and settled back into his thoughts once again, making Trunks realize the seriousness of the problem. An idea entered his mind and he grinned a malicious smirk to himself; he would get Goten to tell him what was on his mind, even if it meant revealing some of his own secrets.  
  
I'll have you telling me everything before this night's over, Son Goten, or before I leave tomorrow. I swear on it, for my name's Trunks Brief, and I always get what I want! His own arrogance at what he said made it even more amusing and he chuckled as they landed and Goten hopped off Nimbus, waving a good-bye as the yellow cloud disappeared over the tall trees. He looked at Trunks strangely.  
  
"What are you laughing at, Trunks? What's so funny?" Gohan looked at him as well and only shrugged. Kids would always be kids, he thought indifferently, as he opened the front door and told his mother that they were back.  
  
"Oh, nothing, Chibi. Nothing at all."  
  
"Wow, Okaasan, that was great! I don't even think I can move without hurting something, I'm so full!" Chichi smiled graciously at her eldest son and noticed that the younger children were nearly falling asleep on the table; having waited for Gohan to finish after them had almost taken an hour.  
  
"Arigato, Gohan, but I think these two little tikes are ready for bed. Goten, honey.Trunks, dear, wake up before you drool all over my table and go get ready for bed." She glanced at Gohan, who was leaning back in the chair with a wistful thought on his face and spoke. "Do you think you could see to it, Gohan? I'm going to clean up this kitchen before any other disasters happen." She eyed the already formed puddles of saliva on the surface as the two half Saiy-jins dragged themselves from their chairs and towards the steps.  
  
"Sure, Okaasan. I'll put them to bed, and then come down to help you." Chichi shook her head.  
  
"No, that won't be necessary, Gohan. You've already had a tiring day from going to that school and dealing with that awful man they call a principal, and you should get some rest if you're planning on taking those two outside tomorrow." Gohan's eyes widened in surprise, but he made no move to argue with his mother; even if he had wanted to, he would have still lost the battle. There was just no way to beat his mother when it came to things like that.  
  
"Alright, Okaasan, if you say so. Well, goodnight, then." He slowly stood from his chair and headed up the steps, leaving the sounds of his mother humming as she began to carry dishes from the table to the kitchen behind him to exchange it for a sight that he wouldn't give up for anything. Trunks was standing with his toothbrush in his mouth, the bristle end of it almost falling from his mouth as a puddle of wetted toothpaste dripped in a foamy stream down his chin, and Goten was half- heartedly struggling with the top to his pajamas, one arm sticking out of the hole where his head was supposed to go through and his head poking through one of the sleeves. He chuckled and went to his little brother, kneeling as he pulled him out of the shirt and put it on him correctly.  
  
"There you go, Goten. Now, get into bed before you fall asleep standing." He glanced at him and found he was already doing so, his eyes closed and his mouth open. He smiled tenderly and placed him in bed, pulling the blankets up over him to his chest. One task complete, he spun on his heel and swiftly caught the toothbrush before it hit the ground.  
  
"Come on, Trunks. Rinse your mouth out and get into bed. I know you still have enough energy to do it." Unenthusiastically, and as slow as a snail, he managed to wash his mouth out and take a drink of water before being carried to bed by his friend's brother, who was almost like the big brother he never had, and was safely tucked in.  
  
"G'night, Gohan," he murmured softly, shutting his eyes to feign sleep; so far, his plan, also being carried out quite well by Goten, was working.  
  
"Goodnight, Trunks. Sleep well, little buddy." And he clicked out the lamp beside the bed, leaving the light in the bathroom open and the door ajar, due to Goten's slight phobia of the dark, and left the room, shutting the door completely as he went. After a few minutes of safe waiting, Trunks sprung from under the blankets and scurried over to his friend's bed, slithering in under the blanket with him as he nudged his ribs.  
  
"Goten.psst, hey, Chibi, you can stop pretending now. He's gone." He leaned over his relaxed face and found him truly asleep, his eyes shut to the world. Trunks couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Give me a break!" He shook him, and eventually flipped him onto the floor where he came awake with a sharp crack as his head hit the floor.  
  
"W-what?! What'd I do, Trunks? That wasn't nice of you!" he complained while he climbed back into the bed next to him.  
  
"Come on, Chibi, you weren't supposed to really sleep, not when I told you we were going to do something." Goten's eyes lit up with excitement and he grinned.  
  
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. What do you want to do? Anything like we did last time you were over?" Trunks thought back to the latest addition to their book of escapades, mainly concerning a bottle of shaving cream, an extremely sticky substance that they had found in Bulma's lab, and Goten's older brother, and he couldn't help but snicker at it, even though he was shaking his head.  
  
"No, nothing like that. Tonight, we're just going to tell each other secrets." Goten's smile slid from his face and he laid flat on his stomach, looking at his best friend as his mind filled with thousands of questions. What type of secrets was he talking about?  
  
"Oh," he whispered, trying to fake unintelligence. "Well, there was this one time when Okaasan wasn't home, and Gohan and me went on a trip to the movies in the city, plus we had ice cream afterwards. Are you talking about those types of secrets, Trunks?" Trunks slowly shook his head.  
  
"Not exactly, Goten."  
  
"Oh, well, then how about the time when I found Gohan doing something really weird in his room? Do you want me to show you?" Trunks' eyes nearly bulged from their sockets; sometimes his friend could be so juvenile that it gave him a terrible headache.  
  
"Umm, no, Chibi, that isn't necessary." Trunks rolled over to the side of the bed and pulled up his bag that was sitting on the floor. "What I'm talking about is.you tell me what's been on your mind and I show you what's in the bag. It's as simple as that." Goten anxiously looked at the duffel and bit his lip, holding back the urge to tell Trunks everything about his nightmares all because of a small bout of curiosity. A dead silence filtered the room as Goten argued with himself whether or not to tell him, and he suddenly disliked his friend.a lot! Trunks knew that he couldn't resist the temptation, and wearily, he sighed.  
  
"Fine, Trunks, but if you laugh at me.I'll.I'll never be your friend again," he murmured with slight dignity as Trunks sat up and agreed with a silent shake of his head.  
  
"O-okay, well.I.you know how I said that I dreamed about someone dying.well," he drew in a deep breath and mumbled his next sentence together. "It-was-er-I-dreamed-about-you-dying!" He quickly averted his gaze and could still hear his friend's slight gasp, despite it being barely audible, because of his Saiy-jin hearing. Another long and dreaded silence pursued, but Trunks broke it again, talking in a squeaky whisper.  
  
"What do you mean? How?" Goten turned his head and looked painfully at the lavender haired boy in his eyes, noting fear and uncertainty bubbling from within their depths.  
  
"I.I.I don't know Trunks-kun. All I know is that there is lots of blood and stuff like that.and you were getting sick, really badly. Have.have you been sick, Trunks-kun?" He averted his gaze to stare at the wall and then whispered in a shaky voice that was all too hesitant,  
  
"H-how did you.if I tell you another secret before I show you what's in the bag, then.then you can't tell, okay?" Goten nodded and his skin turned even paler. "I.I was sick only once.only once Goten, I swear, and that was today, when I got in trouble and had to clean up that mess. When I.when I stared at all of the collected brown milk, it just.it was too overwhelming and I started gagging, but when I ran into the bathroom to make sure I didn't throw up on the floor, I started coughing up blood into.into the sink, and I..I was afraid to tell some-somebody, Goten. I was scared that they would find out and tell me something's wrong with me, and I.I." Goten leaned over and hugged his best friend, feeling dread wash over himself even more as they clung to each other and Trunks silently sobbed on his shoulder. Perhaps it had been a luck of fate that he hadn't told him everything he had dreamed; he had seen it, had watched it all happen, and now there was a definite reason for him to watch out for his best friend.his only friend.  
  
"It's okay, Trunks-kun.maybe.maybe it was just a reaction or something, you know.like I have when I run around in the weeds by the really big tree.maybe that's what happened.it's okay, Trunks-kun, you don't have to cry.we'll figure it out." Trunks released him, and pulled back, slightly smiling.  
  
"You really are my best friend, you know that, Goten? Right?" He smiled the Son grin and nodded vigorously.  
  
"Yep, I sure do.now, what's in the bag?" Trunks laughed lightly, remembering that they were supposed to actually be sleeping, and unzipped his duffel.  
  
"Okay, now you can't laugh, but." He reached in and drew out a small pink teddy bear with a huge heart on its furry chest. "Meet Mr. Piddleywinkle." Goten's mouth dropped open at the tone of affection in his voice and stretched his arm out to touch it. Trunks jerked it away, possessively clinging it to his chest before his cheeks burnt red and he handed it over to him.  
  
"Be careful with it.er.I mean.don't lose it or anything because it's the first thing I ever remember my father giving me aside from something that left a bruise on my face." Goten raised an eyebrow as he ran his fingers over the smooth artificial fur.  
  
"Why would Vegeta give you a pink bear, Trunks? Aren't these things for girls?"  
  
"Well, you see.Okaasan said that.well.my father had thought that I was going to be a girl, before I was born, you see, because Okaasan had told me that he had said to her that Saiy-jin babies that were boys always gave their mothers a hard time, and she said that I had been really inactive, and stuff.and well, I guess Otousan thought that would have been suitable enough to give a baby that was a girl." His cheeks were even redder by the time he had finished.  
  
"Yeah, but you're a boy, not a girl, so why do you have it?" Trunks shrugged and tried to control his blush.  
  
"I don't know.Mr. Piddleywinkle has always been with me, ever since I can remember, and I usually can't go anywhere without him." Goten raised his eyes from the stuffed animal and pleaded with him.  
  
"Could I.well, it's so cool that you have something that your dad gave you and stuff.and well.well, could I sleep with Mr. Piddleywinkle? Just for tonight, incase my bad dreams come back?" Trunks smiled tenderly and sighed with relief that Goten hadn't thought him a baby.  
  
"Sure.it's okay with me, but.you won't tell anybody about him, will ya?" Goten shook his head in a solemn 'no' and buried himself under the covers, wrapping his arms around the little teddy bear. Trunks ran over to his bead and dove under the comforter, closing his eyes, trying to forget the things that had happened. Both youngsters were deeply troubled despite the uplift of a secret and the little stuffed bear, and it was several hours before either of them drifted into the arms of Morpheus.  
  
Goten suddenly realized that he was dreaming again, despite the ever reassuring presence of Mr. Piddleywinkle in his arms, but somehow, it was different. There was no longer the ache in his chest from the pangs of guilt, nor was there the flowing red blood or rotting stench of death that had haunted him, even in his wakened state. When he turned back to look behind him, he found his house there, quiet and undisturbed in the light of day, and as he found himself walking, something seemed wrong and he couldn't quite place it. The trees of the ever-deepening forest chirped loudly with birds, but that wasn't what worried him. He sensed something dark and almost chilling to the bone, as if a being hovered near him and was entirely evil, a total opposite to his pure heart and goodness.  
  
He glanced up through the canopy the tall tress made and noticed a cave hidden beneath the over hang of some shrubs, seemingly carved out into the side of a mountain. Strange; he hadn't remembered there ever being something like that before, but then, suddenly, he recalled the conversation he'd had with Gohan about promising to never go inside any caves he'd found, and gasped. He didn't know that anything like that had existed, so what was that thing doing in his memories or dreams, even? Upon immediately thinking about it, he found himself in the dark depths, and shuddered, gripping tightly to him the comforting body of the bear he held. He could definitely feel the company of something not too friendly and all too unhuman. A voice echoed, or hissed, rather, through his mind and he stumbled, landing on something soft and wet with stickiness. He looked down and even though it was dark, he could make out the shape of Trunks' body beneath him, lifeless and covered in blood. He cursed his Saiy-jin senses and then screamed in mortification.  
  
Foolish.it was only child's play to begin with, but now.I have both of you within my confines.my plan.it has worked superbly. Goten heard the amusement and the frostiness in the strange whispering voice, as if it had no tongue and mouth in which to use for speech. He lay, looking at his friend's mutilated and torn flesh, the short strands of beautiful lavender hair that he had once admired more than his own, soaking with blood that had run from the split fracture on the side of his head, and he began sobbing, pulling himself up onto his feet. Tears seemed to burn his eyes and sting into pain that became real enough for him to realize everything. Finally, it all made sense.  
  
"This.this has gone.this has gone.F-FAR ENOUGH!!!!" he screamed in an ear-shattering yell as rage and anger radiated from his limber body and vibrated the small cave with his rising power level. His fists clenched so tightly that his own blood began to run from his tautly stretched palms and he cried out for the death of his only friend, busting his heart as the truth overwhelmed him. He was dead.Trunks was dead.everything he had loved about him.was gone!  
  
He threw himself onto the body of his lifeless childhood playmate, clinging wordlessly to him, shaking him as he begged him to get up, to breathe, to smile again and laugh at his slow-wittedness, but none of it worked; he still lay unchanged, the blood beginning to congeal in the cold of the cave's darkness as the flow of it slowed. His lips trembled, and his hands were numb. It didn't feel like a dream anymore, it was all too real.  
  
"Trunks-kun! Oh, Dende, you can't be.you can't be.wake up!! Wake up, Trunks-kun!" he howled in grief, touching the paleness of his cheeks in his own, equally colorless, hands. "Please.please.Trunks-kun, you're my.only.friend.you can't be.you.NO!!!!" His head fell back, tears of scorching hot pain flooding his face as he screamed again and again, thinking that if he shouted long enough, his friend would revive himself and be alive. It was only a sick impression of the truth. He was gone, and the cruel laughter floated around him, taunting him, making his anger control his mind, emptying every thought but those of destruction, of the revenge for his friend who lay unmoving and breathless in front of him. He punched the ground in outrage, feeling it give easily under the hard impact of his stiffened fingers, and then he felt himself falling and falling, spiraling downward as the darkness faded from black to white, his mind being brought back to the world of the living with a light touch on his face.  
  
He jerked from the bed, tumbling in a pile of sweat moistened sheets and limbs as he brought a body down with him to the floor. The body was Trunks, warm, full of life, and worrying for him even more than before. When Goten finally relaxed and wasn't struggling against his touch, he wrapped his small arms around his friend, feeling him shudder through the hug as sobs racked him, tearing at his heart deeper than that of anything. They were thick coarse cries of terror and pain, alerting Trunks that something awful had happened and his human half told him to comfort, while at the same time his Saiy-jin half wished to find out what it was and take revenge. Eventually it slowed, bringing time to a stand still.  
  
"Goten.Chibi, what's the matter? You were screaming and shouting my name.and you were scaring me." Goten pulled away and looked into the crystal blue depths of an ocean swirling with concern and compassion and ardor.  
  
"Trunks-kun.you know.know that.that I care about you, right? And if I could stop anything from happening to you I would, right?" He gazed at him, confused.  
  
"Yeah, I know, Chibi.I care for you, too, but." Goten cut him off by throwing his slender arms around his neck and clinging.  
  
"Aishiteru.I love you, Trunks-kun, and I'm never going to let you die! Never!!" Trunks swallowed back the questions that were on the tip of his tongue, and just remained still as Goten clutched him. So he'd had another nightmare, had he? It must have been a really bad one if he was crying and yelling in his sleep loud enough to wake him up. A few minutes later, he released him, almost afraid that if he let him go he would disappear and really be dead, but he chanced it and still found him there, staring at him.  
  
"Hey, I know! How about we go outside for a while? There was something I wanted to show you when we finally got here. I found it a couple of days ago when I was out exploring while you had some chores to finish, and it is so cool! It might take your mind off things." Goten hesitated, still scared, but then nodded slowly, forcing himself to face the fact that they were only dreams and nothing more. At least, he hoped they were.  
  
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea, Trunks-kun.but I'm going to go downstairs and eat breakfast before we do, so I can tell Okaasan where we're going so she doesn't worry if she comes up here and finds us missing." He still remembered the times he hadn't told his mother where he had gone and the punishment and humiliation that came along with it. He wasn't sure if he could handle that if he disobeyed again, due to the stress he was already experiencing. Trunks shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Fine with me, Chibi.hey, don't look so sad.you'll really like the things I'm going to show you."  
  
"I'm sure I will, Trunks," he replied, digging into the rolled blankets to find something. He withdrew the small bear that had been a support in his dreams, and handed it to him. "Here, Mr. Piddleywinkle was a real comfort, but you might want to put him back in the bag. Who knows what Gohan would think if he found it?" Trunks quickly complied and joined him on the journey towards the kitchen, where Gohan was just finishing breakfast and standing up as he stretched when the boys entered.  
  
"Ohayo, Goten and Trunks. Sleep well?" Trunks noticed the disturbed look in Goten's eyes and swiftly replied,  
  
"Hai, really good.I don't.even remember getting into bed last night. I must have been really tired. What about you, Goten?" The younger half Saiy-jin numbly slid into his chair and stared at the grain streaks in the table.  
  
"Hai, really tired," he mumbled under his breath, getting a troubled look from Chichi as she set more food before them. She eyed Trunks and Goten curiously.  
  
"You boys weren't up to anything last night, were you? Gohan, you might want to check your clothes closet again, just to make sure," she said, recalling the incident where Goten and Trunks had somehow snuck into his room and had poured glue all over her son's clothes, leaving him nothing to wear but the garments that had been on his back. She smiled softly to herself. They had even been as thrifty as to get the ones in the hamper. They were so intelligent, but their mischief and age got them into too much trouble.  
  
"No, Chichi-chan, we didn't even leave the room. Goten's just a little cranky that I got him up early, today. Isn't that right, Goten?" he asked through partially clenched teeth, which Goten immediately jumped to attention because of.  
  
"Hai, Okaasan, I'm just a little bit tired, but Trunks and I are going to go play outside to wake up even more after breakfast." He eagerly reached for a pair of chopsticks and a plate of rice filled with eggs and bacon before digging in. Trunks followed suit and began to eat, giving Chichi and Gohan no further reason to question their strange actions and Gohan excused himself from the room while Chichi served the ravenous eating machines more food. After several plates, seemingly after she lost count of serving them ten plates apiece, they left the table, smiling contentedly and full from their bellies nearly to their toes.  
  
"So, what do you want to show me, Trunks-kun?" Goten asked awhile later, after they were a good mile and a half away from his house. Trunks had been silent the entire trip and it made Goten edgy in the walk in the silence of the forest that reminded so much of the dream he'd had. Trunks glanced at him and smiled.  
  
"Oh, it's just a little ways up over that rise in front of us. Are you sure you're up to it?" Goten nodded in a matter of fact manner and gave a quick Son grin, revealing the entire two rows of his straight white baby teeth. It didn't reach him fast enough for him to think why his friend had asked such a strange question, but when they began to scale the thick side of a rocky cliff a few minutes later, it finally hit him. He looked up at the bottom of Trunks' boots as he edged up the footsteps in the wall and squinted.  
  
"What do you mean by 'am I up for it'?" he shouted towards the sky, startling Trunks in his climb. He peered down at him.  
  
"Well, it's sorta dark in the place that I'm showing you, and I know how you're afraid of the dark and everything." Egged on by that remark, he rushed up after him, climbing nearly as fast as Trunks to reach the top before he did. When Trunks noticed his speedy advance, he leapt off the edge and flew to the peak where a narrow walkway presented itself to him. He was smiling ear to ear when his friend reached the ledge a few minutes later and he collapsed on the ground, out of breath.  
  
"You.you can be really mean.do you know.that.Trunks.kun?!" he gasped, pulling air into his lungs as quickly as possible to regain his stamina. He continued grinning and just shrugged as he pointed beside him with a finger.  
  
"There.that's where I'm taking you. It's really neat inside there, aside from it being completely pitch black. What do you think?" Goten sat up and lifted his eyes towards the direction that Trunks was motioning to and fell back, air suddenly becoming nothing as he stopped breathing. It was a cave, the entrance small and the sun barely reaching into its depths before the blackness consumed it.  
  
"T-t-there?! You're taking me.t-there?" he questioned and then furiously began to shake his head. "N-no! I'm not going in there. Nothing you say or do is gonna make me, either. W-wait! What are you doing?!" Trunks stopped in mid-stride to look at his terrified friend. What was up with that?  
  
"In there. Just because you're too chicken to come doesn't mean that it's going to stop me from exploring. If you really want to stay out here all by yourself, then go right ahead, but I'm going to have some fun." With that, he walked to the entrance and disappeared within the shadows. Goten's heart leapt into his throat as he crawled after him towards the opening, afraid of what to find and afraid of what he might lose if the dreams were prophetical and correct. As soon as his fingers came in contact with the over-lying gloom he immediately felt the same immaculate coldness that had washed over him when he'd been asleep, burying deep inside of his skin and sinking into his heart, making him shudder.  
  
"T-Trunks-k-kun? W-where are you?" There was a deep, heart-pounding silence and he swallowed hard, his breathing increasing radically. "T- Trunks?" A cold hand touched his bare skin and he jumped, shouting in terror as he backed away. It was then that he heard childish laughter ringing throughout the vicinity.  
  
"Boy, you sure are easy to scare, Goten-kun. I thought you didn't like dark places." came the familiar voice that he'd always known. Goten began to breathe easier and laughed cautiously.  
  
"You.you know I don't, Trunks. I wanted to stop you from coming in here.it's bad in this place, can't you feel it?" There was another selfless giggle.  
  
"Chibi, you really do amaze me. You can't fly or sense a lot of other things, but you think there's some." He stopped in mid-sentence and Goten squinted in the darkness, trying to see Trunks' face. Despite his developed Saiy-jin senses, he could not.  
  
"Trunks, what are you-?" A hand gripped his arm in a steely grasp.  
  
"Shh. You're right, there is something in here. I don't know how I couldn't have felt it be-Ahhh!!" The lock on his arm disappeared and he could hear Trunks' screaming continue, sounding further and further away.  
  
"Trunks?! Trunks, what's happening?! Where are you?!" he cried, pure panic cascading over the fear that had risen up inside of him.  
  
"Ahhh!! Goten.Goten, h-help me! It's.something's got me.NO, STOP!!!!" The shrill echo of his voice ripped at his soul and he scrambled to his feet, running and tripping in the darkness after him, bruising his skin as he hit rocks with his body and injuring his sides when he fell.  
  
"TRUNKS!!" he hollered over the deafening roar of silence that surrounded him. "Oh, Dende, where are you?! TRUNKS!!" He heard a faint whisper, almost like a plead and stopped, straining to listen to the soft whimpering and hissing voice that was ricocheting off the cave walls.  
  
"P-please.l-leave him.ahhh!" That was Trunks, there was no mistake about that, and he sounded in pain.  
  
Shut your mouth, you insolent boy.he's far more important than you are, and besides, you were a mere tool to lure him here.he's much stronger than you, son of Vegeta.yes, much stronger.  
  
"B-but.he can't.I won't.you've been torturing m-me a-all this t-time haven't you? Haven't y-you?!" There was a cry of agony as something struck his body. Goten's breath hitched and faltered.  
  
Be quiet, you foolish child.now, where is he? I haven't been inside that worthless mind of yours for nothing. I want one that is capable of complete malleability. You struggled against me so hard, and fought to regain control of your body.well, what has it gotten you, spawn of the Saiy- jin Prince? Nothing! Nothing but a violent outcast of your body's precious life fluid, and now you are here, losing more by the second until you tell me where the brat of Son Gokou is hiding! Where is he?! I know he followed you in, and he wouldn't leave you to your death, so.where is the child?!  
  
"I.I w-won't t-tell you.y-you're nothing b-but a mon-monster!!" Goten listened to his friend as more shrieking followed the sound of something hard hitting soft and compliant skin, and then there was nothing. He jumped out from behind a rock wall and watched as the fading blue aura of a dark creature slid from Trunks' lax mouth and let him slip to the floor as its color absorbed the blackness around it and became invisible. He would have helped his friend who had hit his head against the concrete like floor and who wasn't moving but the thing had him wrapped in its essence, burning his skin with the slightest touch as it wrapped itself around him.  
  
Ahh, the feel of your young body's power, hidden deep within the recesses of your soul, it puts that weakened fool's to shame. At last I have you, son of Gokou. Goten froze and listened to the faded voice, feeling its somehow hot breath against his face as he whispered.  
  
"W-what are you? W-who are you? Why are you.doing this to us?!" He stood rigid and waited for an answer, all the while wanting to help Trunks, who may have been dying.  
  
Too many questions, but I see no reason not to answer them. You will soon be under my control and there will be nothing you can do about it, seeing as how your father isn't around anymore.I.am Bebi, once mortal enemy to that retched boy named Son Gokou, and now a mere whispering presence without a host. You.will have the honor of fulfilling that place, for within you, I sense great power and an even greater will for being under my control. Goten struggled and tried to free himself. He had never heard of this being, Bebi or what ever its name was, and it was even more frightening to think that this creature somehow knew more about his father than he did, since he'd never met him before because he had died in the Cell Games months before he'd been born.  
  
"Please, stop this. I'm.I'm.I'm not as strong as you think. Trunks is more powerful than I am, he.he always beats me and he can fly." He felt rage and grief rising within him as he thought of his friend and he knew that he had to help him. The thing, Bebi, laughed.  
  
You are amusing, but no, that brat dead on the ground is not more powerful than you. He may be now, but you have an unburied strength that only I will know once I possess you and you become fully under my control. You seem to have inherited many qualities from your father, and once I harness them, then I will move onto bigger hosts, such as your brother, who defeated that monster that had called himself perfect many years ago, and then.Vegeta, an ultimate goal, for I have thirsted for his strength, which is far greater than yours and every being combined on this useless planet, and his emotionless and hate filled ways. You see, I could not have used Trunks, as you so lovingly called him, much longer than I did for examination because he was insolent and refused to come under my control completely, and the Prince of Saiy-jins.he does not hold as close a bond to his son for me to enter him and take over his mind. I will wait, until everything is brought into play with your friend's demise and your surrender. Goten's muscles tightened and he felt his self-control slipping past his will as anger and disbelief and hatred fed his Saiy-jin blood.  
  
"No, I won't let you do such a.such a terrible thing to my family and the people of my planet! I won't let you do to others what you did to my.to my only.FRIEND!!!" His ki exploded around him, knocking Bebi from around his body and his energy lit the darkness, illuminating Trunks' lifeless and unmoving form that was tattered and covered in blood. He ran to him, barely able to see the slow and rugged rise of his chest as he continued to breathe. Trunks felt his hand on his face and smiled weakly.  
  
"G-G-Go.Ch-Chibi, how I.I.it h-hurts, Ch-Chibi. P-please, m-make it s-stop." Goten could feel tears sliding down his cheeks as he stared at his best friend, feeling his strength drain away from him at each word he spoke. He felt the wetness of Trunks' own grief on his fingers.  
  
"Don't, Trunks.don't waste your strength. It'll be okay, I.I promise. We'll be back at home, terrorizing my brother and laughing about all the fun we'll have playing our training games, and.and just imagine all the other stuff we'll do together.school and.and those dance things and.and the parties and stuff. Plus, what would you do to keep all those girls away from you, unless you had me? You already attract mothers, and that probably means." He heard Trunks' soft laughter and stopped, realizing that he was babbling.  
  
"Y-you're f-funny, Chibi.b-but, yeah, who would k-keep all those girls away f-from us if we d-didn't have each.each oth-other." There was a pause and then, "I-it's g-getting dark, Go-Goten.I'm.I'm sc-scared." More tears fell from his eyes and he could feel something snapping inside him as he felt him slipping farther away from him. His friend was dying and he couldn't do anything about it. He felt useless.  
  
"It's okay, Trunks, I'm right here. I'll never leave you, ever! You're my only friend, and.and we're supposed to be together. We make the best team. Please.please don't leave me, Trunks-kun.please don't go away." He was sobbing now, futile and meaningless words falling from his lips as he felt Trunks' body convulse with pre-shocks of death and then quiet.  
  
"D-don't c-cry, Ch-Chibi, and.and d-don't you w-w-worry about m- me.I'll.I'll always b-be w-w-with you, G-Goten-k-kun.I.Ai.Aishit-teru.I.I l- love you.you w-were always.always my b-best and.and only.f.fri." His body trembled and then stilled, the last of his strength leaving his body, and leaving Goten without a companion, a person who would tease him and laugh with him and take the heat for him if he got in trouble, and the dam broke, shattering any resistant that held back the awful pain of power that was building up in him. He could feel strength and unknown energy swamping his body as he screamed, his eyes opening wide and his lips aching as he bit into them, harder than anything he'd ever bitten into in his life, drawing a fountain of blood that matched the one coursing from his fingernail busted palms. The ground vibrated and he collapsed onto the body of his dead comrade, clinging helpless to him while the energy flowed around them, the younger half Saiy-jin trying to force his own pounding life energy into the older one as he grasped the full meaning of the dreams he had been having and sobbed. It had been a warning to alert him of his friend's demise and he had ignored completely. Now.he was gone.  
  
"Trunks.you can't be dead.I.I won't allow it.I can't be.I can't be alone.without you.live.live.please." When he took notice that his energy was just circulating and not being absorbed, he yelled out again, shattering rock and allowing sunlight to pour over them as he continued to scream, ignoring the fact that Bebi was floating near, a ghostly hint of a smile on his misty body. "TRUNKS!!! TRUNKS!! OH, DENDE, NO!!! TRUNKS!!!" A flood of uncontrolled pain mingled with his strength, breaking the barrier between him and something instinctual, something that had been buried deeply beneath his consciousness and was finally making itself evident. He felt the shear strength of it wrapping golden tendrils of energy around them both, his hair fluttering upward and becoming stiffer as the energy increased, and all he could do was continue to scream, air being an infinite supply to his lungs as power forced its way through his limbs and into the limp body of his friend, reviving the color of his skin, despite the blood drying on his face, and igniting his hair into a strange yellow color that smashed his senses.  
  
He was unaware that change were also happening to his body as more and more of the wild ki filtered through him and over into Trunks' mass. His black hair was now defying gravity as the energy dispensed throughout him, altering from dark onyx to an electrifying golden blond that shimmered inside the sun-lit dimness, and his eyes were sizzling with hatred, turquoise, instead of black, becoming the dominate color. When he finally opened his eyes after the squall of raging power settled inside him and wrapped its glowing essence around him, he glanced down at Trunks, finding his hair as bright as his own, despite his ill education of it all, and his face clean from all scratches. It looked as though he were asleep, dreaming peacefully instead of being dead, and Goten cried internally for him. It took him a moment to realize that something was moving around him, and he looked up, remembering Bebi, the monster that had murdered his friend. He was laughing.at him!  
  
"You fiend.you.you alienistic t-thing! You killed him!! You took my best friend's life and you are laughing about it! WHY?!" There was a strange deepness to his voice but he didn't notice it; his mind was too preoccupied with taking revenge.  
  
You truly are something to marvel at, don't you realize? Can't you feel that power flowing through you as if you were meant for it? It's incredible to think that I will soon possess such a gifted body as my host. You and I will be the center of terror and destruction on this planet and throughout the entire universe.together, we will be.unstoppable. A sudden urge to mock him entered his mind and he laughed, a type of sharp crude sneer that welled inside his chest and burst from his mouth.  
  
"You can think that all you like, Bebi, but I will not let you take over my body. Once I'm done with you, there won't be a muscle in your pathetic unreal-self that can't move. I will destroy you and show you what murdering a Saiy-jin's best friend does to him!" His fist tightened and the golden rifts of a Super Saiy-jin's strength engulfed him as he slowly rose from the ground, a scowl dominating his face. Bebi just continued to laugh at him.  
  
This is going to be more exciting than I anticipated, my future host. Do you honestly think that just because you're friend is dead that he cannot be used against you? Well.think again. Bebi's spirit floated over Trunks, moving Goten slightly back away from him as he felt a burst of frigid air slide beneath the protective outer layer of energy, and he watched in half fascination and horror as the apparition began to slid into his mouth, digesting himself within Trunks' throat. Sense floated back to Goten, and he gripped Bebi's body, feeling it slip through his fingers even though he was holding onto it as tightly as he could manage.  
  
"No! What are you doing?! Get out of him! Stay away from my.friend, you monster!" It was useless. As soon as he struggled to pull him back, Bebi increased the force at which he was driving into Trunks' body and disappeared within him, releasing Goten with enough intensity to send his head connecting with the wall behind him, making the rock shatter. He staggered for a moment, seeing the room spin, but shook it off, running quickly to Trunks and kneeling at his side. He was waiting for something, he didn't know what, but he continued to stare at him, recoiling in alarm when his eyes flickered open, revealing blue-green depths that were filled with hatred.  
  
"Wha-what?! Trunks, you were.I watched you d-die!" The disbelief was written entirely across his face and the possessed body of his friend smirked at him before lifting his hand and firing a ki blast at the shocked Goten, easily knocking him back against the same wall he'd first hit because he hadn't moved to block it. The force busted him through it and he flew from the cave and fell, falling down towards the ground until gravity stopped him with the impact from hitting the earth. He could feel his bones snapping inside at the intensity and he moaned in pain, blood washing his mouth with a rich irony taste. He spit it out and tried to stand, but was kicked into the side of a tree with a forceful blow from a tanned boot. His back cracked and he dropped to the soft cushioning of the ground, feeling more of his life fluid soak into his clothes and the spongy green under growth as it erupted from several abrasions on his body. A hand reached down and grabbed a tight fistful of his fair hair.  
  
"Does it feel good to be kicked around by the dead body of your friend, brat?! Does it give you some sort of sick pleasure to fell him touching you again, even though he's gone?" Goten groaned in response and Trunks' laugh echoed in his ears. "Well, he's not entirely lifeless, as you can see, so I've decide to adopt his body as my temporary host until you concede and give in. You can call me Bebi-Trunks, a disgusting but useful name, and I will enjoy crushing your spirit and blowing its dust into the wind." Bebi-Trunks lifted Goten's sagging body from the ground and easily tossed him into the air, proceeding after him as he began beating on him; his fists punching the softest parts of his body, bruising more skin and bones, his legs kicking into his ribs, and his knees smashing into his stomach and head before he finally hit the ground without a sound from his damaged body. Bebi-Trunks landed softly beside him, the power of a Super Saiy-jin flaring as he smiled in a malicious manner.  
  
"Are you feeling defeated yet, Goten? Are you so low that you cannot stand up to your friend? It's a shame that I may end up killing you after all, seeing as how this body I'm in is suiting my purpose well and hasn't rebelled once. This will be an experience that neither you or I will-!"  
  
"N-no." Bebi-Trunks' eyebrows rose in question.  
  
"What did you say, you pathetic little Saiy-jin?!" he inquired with a demanding tone, walking over to his flaccid body that lay in a ditch in the dirt. "Were you talking to me?!" Goten looked upward in a squinted fashion and felt the crusted blood over his eyes give way as he tried to open them completely.  
  
"I..I.said no! You're.you're not my friend.Trunks would n-never do anything to.to hurt me.he.he isn't like you, Bebi.he isn't a.a.monster!!" Strength seemed to flow over his worn and hurting body and he leapt to his feet, running at the dumbstruck Bebi-Trunks who missed the block and received a fist in the face. Goten brought his knee up to smash into his stomach, but Bebi-Trunks dodged it, his instincts finally kicking in, as he maneuvered out of the way so that Goten fell back on to the ground. He struggled to get back up even as his ribs and arms begged to rest; he pushed himself to a standing position.  
  
"Well, you certainly put up more of a fight than I thought you were going to. What is it that drives you? You're friend is dead, and he can no longer help you." Bebi-Trunks hovered in the air and waited for the attack but it never came.  
  
"My courage and the love for my friend is what drives me, Bebi. That and the fact that I know you cannot win. I won't allow you to destroy everything I care about and I'm going to prove it. Prepare yourself, Bebi, because I'm going to stop you and make sure that you never come back." Bebi-Trunks stared at him a moment, and then, to Goten's horror, began to clap his hands.  
  
"Bravo! A very beautiful speech, Goten, but it will do you no good. This body is much stronger than I had realized, and you are far weaker than it is. You say you can destroy me, let's see you try." Goten swallowed back his fear and crouched into a fighting stance, his hands balled into fists and waiting as Bebi-Trunks landed softly on the ground and mimicked his pose except that his fingers were curled into claws. They rushed at each other instantly, exchanging blow for blow. Goten blocked a punch to his face with his forearm and attacked with a counter, sending Bebi-Trunks to the ground, but his opponent was not hindered. Using his arm as a leverage point, he swept his leg under Goten's in a spin kick, but Goten back-flipped away from it, landing lightly on the tips of his toes as he powered up his ki.  
  
"You won't beat me, Bebi!" He summoned energy, and as if remembering something from when he was an infant, or from some time long before, he cupped his hands together, the heel of each one lining perfectly to match its opposite. "Ka.me.ha.me." He paused and watched as Bebi-Trunks anticipated his attack, one he knew far too well from the long ago clashes between him and Son Gokou. The light radiating from the center of his conjoined wrists nearly blinded him, but he lashed his hands out before him, power beginning to cascade from his body as he poured his life force into the blast and it was sent hurtling at unimaginable speeds towards his adversary. "HA!!!" The shout completed the move, causing the infamous Kamehameha Wave to falter slightly as more power filled it and then erupted towards Bebi-Trunks, his face pale with recognition.  
  
Bebi-Trunks leapt to the side seconds before it would've hit him, and he was sent hurtling into the nearest mountainside, the young body he inhabited being forcefully driven into the hard rock as the blast exploded and covered the area with high licking flames and bellowing smoke. He hit head first, the rock easily giving under the velocity and he slid down the side of it, his face becoming bloodied and badly bruised before he hit the ground with a hard thud. When he tried to stand, cursing Goten's exuberance as he staggered to shaking feet, he found cold cerulean green eyes staring hard at him, and found hands reaching out, gripping his head in a tight lock as he pressed his forearm against his wind pipe, cutting off half the flow of oxygen. Bebi-Trunks gasped for air.  
  
"Y-you.wouldn't.kill.your.only.friend.would.you?" Goten glared hatefully at him.  
  
"You're not my friend, Bebi! How many times to I have to tell you that?!" He glanced right through the lifeless eyes of Bebi-Trunks and somehow found emotion delving within their depths. He gasped as he heard a tiny voice, coming from the body he held, whisper to him.  
  
"Goten.Goten, please.don't hurt me.Bebi's gone, he.he doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore and he left. Please.Goten, it's me.it's Trunks." His grasp loosened slightly, but his heart told him that Trunks was already gone and that Bebi was just trying to get free, any way he could, including tricking him into thinking that Trunks was still alive.  
  
"No! That won't work on me, Bebi! You're stupid tricks are useless and you are going to die, right here and now.by my own hand because all you wanted to do was hurt me, and you murdered my friend!!" His grip tightened again, but he couldn't bring himself to twist his arms, causing his neck to snap instantly and kill him. It was still his companion's body, his best friend, and he didn't want to mutilate it before he took him back to his parents; there was just no reason to explain what had happened if he did it.  
  
"What's the matter, Goten?! Too scared to kill me?! I knew you were too weak to comply your actions with your thoughts. It just isn't done when creatures like you are too pathetic, like your friend." Goten bit down on his lip and felt tears welling up again. He constricted the space between Bebi's throat and his arm, giving a simple powerful twist that broke his neck and let his body drop, falling, as before, lifeless to the ground.  
  
"G.gomen nasai, T-Trunks-kun.I'm.I'm so.so sorry." he cried, falling to his knees to gather Trunks' body in his arms and hold him. "I.I didn't mean to.I had no choice." Before he could hug him, a deep-screaming blackish blue mist began to evaporate from his body and he cringed at the touch as it swirled around him. He could hear Bebi's whispery voice as the haze that was his remains talked to him.  
  
You.you retched child! How dare you think you can beat Bebi, King of the Tuffles, with a simple heartless move?! I may be temporarily weakened but I will return, striking at the hearts of those that you love most when you least expect it. Be forewarned, Son Goten, you have not seen the last of me.Bebi disappeared completely, leaving him and Trunks alone, in the quiet of the forest. When he gazed down at his friend's face, heartbroken at the fact that he was still gone, he found his wounds from the previous battle gone. Hope filling him, he felt his neck and discovered that it wasn't broken. A small grateful smile played his lips. Bebi had taken all of the injuries unto his own body when he'd left Trunks.  
  
Perhaps that was what he meant by being temporarily weakened, he thought, holding Trunks' head gently in his hands. He felt the denied tears begin to ornament his face as he watched him. Oh, Trunks.I wish you could be here with me to celebrate. We beat him, Trunks.we beat him together and it's only fair that you.Dende, can't you save him? Won't anyone bring him back.he's my best friend, he's the only one who truly understands me as I do him.please.please come back.Trunks, I.I need you.His small prayer went unheard and the only thing that was audible in the silence of nature was the crying of a small boy as he mourned over the death of his friend. As the hot tears ran down his face, splashing warmly onto Trunks' skin, he felt something stirring under him, heard air being drawn in, and experienced the stroke of trembling fingers on his bruised visage, brushing away the tears. He opened his eyes and found the normal image of his friend staring at him through tear-filled orbs of the brightest blue, saw his lavender hair blowing gently in the wind, and an unspeakable joy filled his soul, bubbling up into his throat as he gaped in pure disbelief at his friend, who was alive and breathing and.Dende, he was alive and that was all that mattered!  
  
Trunks-kun.I.I.how?" Trunks blinked at him, as if really seeing him for the first time, and then felt the throbbing ache of injury wash over him, making him moan as he tried to roll over and hide the shame welling up onto his lax features.  
  
"D.don't a-ask me any.thing.I.Dende, I feel like I just.died." Trunks grunted, aware of the tight grip on his arm as Goten squeezed him unintentionally.  
  
"You.you don't remember anything? About Bebi and how he."  
  
"Chibi.w-what are you.talking about? I have no idea who Bebi is or why I hurt all over. Did you.did you knock me out or.something?" Goten closed his mouth and watched as Trunks tried to get up but failed and remained content to lay on the ground, in Goten's arms. He looked at the sky in a daze, feeling peace drifting over his mind as he felt sleep overcoming him.  
  
"Trunks.Trunks.don't go to sleep.what if.what if you don't wake up? Then.then what would I do?" The seven year old gazed at him, noting the emotion held in his face, and he reached up with a hand, gently stroking the flesh on the underside of his cheek.  
  
"Chibi, what happened to me? You didn't knock me out did you?" Slowly, and remorsefully, Goten shook his head and proceeded to explain to him about who Bebi was and what had happened to him. By the time he was finished, he was in tears, still feeling the fresh shock of his friend's death washing over him. Trunks was frozen with mortification. Was it true? Had he truly died and was then manipulated into fighting his friend under the control of the thing that had tried to possess him once before but he wouldn't allow it? From the way Goten was weeping, it couldn't have been a lie.  
  
"Goten.Chibi.you're saying that I.I attacked you? On purpose and almost killed you? But I.I don't remember any of that.I'd never do anything to hurt you, Chibi, and." Goten shook his head.  
  
"It wasn't you, Trunks-kun.you were.you were.and it was Bebi doing it and I couldn't help it, but I.oh, Dende, help me.I snapped your neck in my arms, killing you again, but it wasn't really you, and I tried.I tried so hard to." He sobbed into his hands, his small body shaking with grief at the prospect and Trunks managed to sit up and wrap his arms around him in a tight embrace despite the dull pain coursing through him.  
  
"Shh, Chibi.you did what you had to do, and look at me.I'm still here, although I don't know how, and.and.nothing can keep us apart, Chibi! You're my best friend and I am yours, and anything that is stupid enough get between our friendship will be destroyed just as Bebi was." Trunks forced Goten to look at him in the eyes with his fingers, tilting his chin back. "Chibi.I will never, never do anything to hurt you because.because Aishiteru, Goten. I love you, Chibi, my tomodachi, my friend." He laid his head on Goten's shoulder and held him, hoping to Dende that he wouldn't be dramatized and affected because of the things that had happened. He knew it was one thing to see someone or something that you cared for die, but to actually kill them yourself.Trunks knew it had to be unbearable, and Goten was only six years old. He still had his entire life to live without being emotionally scared. Goten clung to him, burying his face into the crook of his neck.  
  
"You're right, Trunks-kun.you're my tomodachi, my friend, my only friend, and nothing could be worse than losing someone that I care about, especially you, and.and I'm glad that you are okay? You promise that we'll always be the best of friends, no matter what?" Trunks nodded his head, pulling away as a twinge of pain flooded his body and his senses wavered.  
  
"Yeah, no matter what, but.Goten, I'm not feeling so well.I think.I think I have to lay." His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell to the ground, pooling in a puddle in Goten's arms. Goten stood up and lifted his unconscious friend into his arms, preparing to take him home, glad to feel his warmed flesh against his, happy to see that he was breathing regularly, knowing that he wasn't dead anymore and that he never would be. They were friends, best friends to the end of time, and no one, not Bebi or any other creature from the depths of the darkness, could keep them apart. They were bound together by destiny and joined by fate.  
  
A/N: Sorry if there were any mistakes, some of them are hard to catch, even after proof reading it several times. Please, give me your ideas and suggestions, and don't flame me(I'm very sensitive ^_~)! 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: You know the drill.I don't own DBZ!  
  
Author's Note: Okay, here's the second chapter. As said before, this was originally the sequel to the first part, but I've decided to add more. Please, don't expect chapters to be this frequent. I had this started three months back and just got off my butt to finish it. I will try to have more fun, with more of my favorite characters(yes, this also means Veggie-sama) and it will probably end up being yaoi later on. The certain goddess in this story I completely made up.she's mine, but does it really matter? R&R!  
  
~Ten Years Later~  
  
I may be temporarily weakened but I will return, striking at the hearts of those that you love most when you least expect it. Be forewarned, Son Goten, you have not seen the last of me.The chilling voice faded into a soft hum as a sweaty and raggedly breathing Goten sat up in his bed, trying to regain his senses after having a nightmare that hadn't entered his mind in a long time. It had been nearly ten years since the incident with Bebi where he had tried to control him and then he had killed his best friend, causing the pain of it to trigger a reaction, and that was when he'd tasted the power of being a Super Saiy-jin for the first time. Trunks had forgotten about it over time, and Goten wished he could say the same, but it had scored a mark through his memory, leaving him susceptible to dreams of a reoccurring ache if the slightest thing troubled him.  
  
Drawing another deep breath, he gracefully slid from his bed and stumbled over to a small desk, where he flicked on the light, revealing piles of notebook paper and schoolbooks. Perhaps if he labored over the work that had been assigned to him in his sophomore lit class that previous day, then he might be able to forget the entire thing and move on with his life, which was going ever slowly since nothing evil had plagued the earth in a while. He reached for the paper with given themes that he could chose to write on and skimmed through them, one finally catching his eye.  
  
Topic 7: Give an example of the most painful experience that can be remembered to date. Follow this short personal narrative with an explanation on your own thesis of why some people are able to retain these incidents while others tend to forget. Possible credit may be given for the best-explained article on this matter.  
  
It was perfect, although it had a little too much concerning the anatomy of the human brain, since he detested science with a passion, but it would work. He would write the greatest paper he'd ever concocted if it would make the entire thing disappear and he wouldn't have to relive the emotional hurt of it all again and again. Grabbing a pen and a notebook, he flipped it open to a blank page and began to scribble in his small neat handwriting.  
  
The smell of death was everywhere around me, and I could feel it floating closer, causing my heart to beat faster. It was as nothing I had felt before, the fear welling up inside of me, and all I wanted to do was fall upon my knees and scream. I desired nothing less than to be with my best friend again, playing, doing everything that children do when they have the need to, but I knew it wasn't possible. Nothing would ever be as it had been before.my best friend was dead, and I had killed him-  
  
Trunks noticed that something seemed off key about his friend, the following day, as they walked through the hallway, heading towards their lockers as he lectured him on his theory about teenage love, and why some were destined to have it and others destined to fail. Goten mechanically agreed with him, when he had to, and methodically pulled books from his backpack to throw them into the metal box he liked to call a cabinet; it was small enough to be considered one. Trunks leaned up against the wall, and flashed a smile to a couple of girls that were walking by, snickering as they both began to giggle and blush as they hurriedly left the corridor towards a classroom.  
  
"See what I mean, Chibi? People just think it's about a perfect face and body, and that's where all of the mistakes go wrong in a relationship." Goten grabbed the notebook that held his next period assignment, and glanced nervously through it. The teacher might not even believe that he had written it himself and might think that Trunks had done it, like he'd done before, because it didn't sound like him and it was too long. There was nearly eleven pages of material, and they'd been required to write only three to four; plus, the words resonated a dark tone that gave the impression that it had, in fact, happened. He grimaced as he slammed the locker door shut, and Trunks glanced at him strangely.  
  
"Chibi, what's bothering you? Did you forget to do your homework for lit class again?" He shook his head as they trudged down the hall, the warning bell ringing in their ears.  
  
"No, it's not that. I actually did a paper this time, but.it doesn't sound like I wrote it. It.well, it has more of a tone that you would have used. You are the genius, right?" Trunks beamed a smile, and waved his typed paper in his face, the plastic covering glinting under the artificial lights.  
  
"You bet. I even had Okaasan read it over before I printed it, and she said that it was.let me see.beyond the comprehension that I should have at my age," he replied, glancing at Goten as his friend looked grimly at his notebook, feeling the words in the pages burn into his fingers through the entire thing. He decided to change the subject, and not brag about his intelligence when he knew that Goten had difficulty with most subjects, except for gym, and quickly snatched the notebook from him. Goten protested only slightly, when he saw him flip to the end and skip the beginning as he began to read.  
  
" '.and so, many people wish not to retain things that have caused them pain in the past because it is just that; too painful to even think about, but others are not quite as lucky. They simply remember the events in their life to help them learn from mistakes that might not, other wise, have happened, and they are expected to grow and mature with recollecting the information that was stored in there brain from these painful experiences. In the end, it is the stronger willed that will surpass those weaker of heart, and they have survived with the help of things that would have killed most other people.'" Trunks looked up at Goten, who was busy staring at his feet as they walked, his eyes wide. "Wow, Chibi.that was.I mean.you actually wrote this?! It's.I think it's even better than the stuff I threw down in mine. What time did you attempt this?" They entered their literature class and slid into their seats in enough time to ignore the tardy bell before Goten responded.  
  
"I don't know.I guess it was.um.somewhere around three in the morning, or something like that. I just couldn't sleep last night, is all, and I had to get my mind off."  
  
"Alright, class, pass up yesterday's homework assignments, and we will continue our silent reading on the selections that were given," their teacher commanded, her hands on her hips. She was a thin and pretty woman, but her students knew not to harass or disobey her because of the no- tolerance temper she had whenever a student misbehaved. Quickly, Goten tore out the pages he'd composed and scribbled his name on the top line before passing it forward. Trunks followed suit and then pulled a thick book from his back pack along with a piece of paper, which he dutifully wrote on and stealthily slipped to Goten, who was staring blankly at the pages of his reading material. He flipped it open.  
  
What was your "painful experience" anyhow? I hope you didn't write about anything concerning our Saiy-jin blood.you know how Otousan and Gohan can be when we blab about that type of stuff.so, did you make it up? Goten smiled slowly at the mention of Vegeta and his brother, and he replied just as quickly with a short response. Trunks read:  
  
I'd rather not talk about it. They continued to pass the note back and forth, their ministrations oblivious to everyone, including the teacher.  
  
Aww, come on, Chibi.what was it about? I'm dying to know.was it about Buu, or.well, I don't know what it'd be about after that.  
  
It's not really about anything.like I told you, I don't think I really wrote it. I mean.I wasn't there. As he handed it back behind him in a quick fluid motion, he heard his name being called out and felt the entire class's eyes on him. He looked up towards the teacher.  
  
"Y-yes, ma'am?"  
  
"Goten, come out into the hallway with me, I wish to speak to you about something." Slowly, he slid from his chair and followed her outside, and despite the height advantage he had over her, he still felt small. She closed the door softly behind her, and handed him his paper, words written in the margin with red ink. She heaved a sigh at him as he stared at the entire thing, dumbfounded.  
  
"Goten, I know you seem to have more trouble comprehending than most students, but that doesn't mean that you can use your friends as an escape to homework. You are intelligent, I can see it from the way the others respect you, but this.this I will not put up with." He looked at her, slightly confused and a little distressed.  
  
"Um.I.I can explain." She shook her head.  
  
"Wait, I'm not finished.then you can go to your defense. As I said.it's not just the cheating issue, but the dark nature of this writing.it expresses pain and suffering beyond anything that I've ever read, in any book, and.Goten, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen written by a student. It tells a story from the view of a child, and yet, that child is facing his fears as if nothing could come between him and the love for his friend, mysterious as the name of that friend is left out, but.who wrote it, Goten? Was it Trunks? Did he help you and together both of you weaved a tail that was believable and unrealistic at the same time?" Goten's hands began to tremble. What if he confessed the truth and she doubted the honesty of his word? What would people think about him, and possibly even his best friend, if they ever found out?  
  
"I.well, you see.it was.it was really late when I decided to actually do my homework, you see, and I guess my mind wasn't thinking straight when I wrote it.and.and I'm sorry that I turned it in. I'll redo it, if you want me to. just.please, just don't tell anyone about what you read.no one else knows." She raised her eyebrows in question.  
  
"So, you're saying that Trunks didn't help you make this up and you did it yourself?" Goten glanced around quickly, thinking with the Saiy-jin half of his brain as he wondered how he might be able to escape this. There was nowhere to run.  
  
"I.I.you see.it's not really.it isn't made up, and yes, ma'am.I did write it all by myself. It was rather shocking to me when I reread it and realized that it came from my brain, and." He trailed off, mumbling slowly as he crushed the written paper in his hand, and the teacher continued to stare at him, a calm but intent expression in her deep sea-green eyes. Slowly, she sighed and forced him to look at her.  
  
"Goten.I'm not exactly sure what to do with you, but.in seeing that you honestly did your work, with a rather well explained thesis on the human brain and its remembering patterns, I must accept it.no matter how unbelievable or darkly toned the paper seems. I trust that it won't happen again, am I correct?" It seemed as though an extremely heavy weight was lifted from him, and he nodded, able to breathe again.  
  
"Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again, I promise you that," he replied as she reopened the classroom door and told him to take a seat.  
  
"Good, now continue your work, and you may keep your paper. Just read over the notes I made and everything will be fine." He signaled a reluctant 'yes' with the shake of his head, and sheepishly slid back into his seat in front of Trunks, who had glanced up at him to give him a quizzical look. He shrugged and grabbed at the neatly folded note stuck in his book to read:  
  
Weren't there? Chibi, what're you talking about? You're starting to creep me out.oh, wait.what was that deal about in the hallway? Did it have something to do with your "masterpiece"?  
  
Sort of. Listen, Trunks, I'd rather not talk anymore about it today, okay? I'm just not up to it. He threw it behind him and tried as hard as he could to ignore the consistent burn of his friend's sapphire blue eyes on his back, knowing that he was watching him with curiosity, and was the first to bolt from the class as soon as the bell rang. He ran down the hallway, not paying any attention to Trunks' shout as he ran after him.  
  
When he reached the outside, he ignited into a Super Saiy-jin, suddenly hating the feel of the energy around him as he remembered how it had first come about, and flew off into the sky, leaving his best friend and the school behind him. Trunks was too late to stop Goten from disappearing into the sky, and his heart felt heavy, as if he'd failed the code for friendship by not demanding that he tell him what was on his mind, and as he turned to go back into the building, thinking it wise to let Goten be alone for the time being, his foot crushed some papers that blew lightly in the wind. Picking it up, he found that it was Goten's paper; he had dropped it. Biting his lip, he prayed that his friend would forgive him, and began to read it.  
  
He skipped over the first three sentences, and something at the end of the first paragraph caught his attention: Nothing would ever be as it had been before.my best friend was dead, and I had killed him-  
  
I remembered him lying there, lifeless on the ground, and I was only fooling myself into thinking that he was sleeping and still alive, when I knew he wasn't. I was only six years old at the time, but it seemed as though I had aged a great deal more than that after I had fallen upon his dead body, touching his face, feeling the sticky but real fluid of his blood weld to my already trembling fingers as I realized the truth, and I screamed with the pain of it. I had killed him, my best and only friend; I had murdered someone that I had loved because I had been too scared to face my fears and immediately destroy the evil creature whose piercing laughter still rings in my ears. I felt the rage bubbling up beneath the surface, and I spun on the ghostly presence, power from my heritage igniting around my body, aware that my best friend was dead and his murder cried revenge. So.not thinking.I decided to take it, forgetting everything.  
  
Trunks shakily sat down at one of the vacant tables in the cafeteria as his eyes poured over the information written in to the tiny creviced lines of the paper, and hid heart began to pound as his own memory returned. When Goten's words finally quit telling the story and began giving his thesis on human recollection, he threw it on the table, burying his shaking hands into his lavender hair. He tried to breathe, but found that there seemed to be no air, and his mind froze on that time long ago, the thing he had forgotten running over and over as if stuck in instant replay.  
  
Oh, Dende.he thought, glancing back up at the crinkled assignment, pain for his friend filling him. Oh, Dende.why didn't he tell me.and.why didn't I.remember?!  
  
Goten flew as far and as fast as he could without looking back, anguish filtering through his entire body as he rushed over flat fields and lush mountain areas with huge forests. What was wrong with him?! Why couldn't he control this feeling and get on with his life? It had happened ten years ago, plenty of time for him to forgive and forget, but it didn't seem to be working. Nothing could make him disregard the fact that he had murdered his friend at one time due to his lack of bravery, and nothing could make his friend remember it. Why would he want to? It wasn't something that Goten was very proud of, and his friend, although he'd told him about it afterwards, hadn't remembered even dying, the first time!  
  
His energy seemed to expand over the large area, making it glow a bright gold that reminded him, faintly, of the setting and rising of the sun, and he stretched farther forward, urging himself to go faster, his ki whipping around him in a dark sweep of power. He wanted answers, and there was only one place to get them, although he doubted nothing would remain, since Bebi had disintegrated after their battle, and that was when his words came back to him, the same exact phrase he had uttered to him in his dream and when he'd been defeated.  
  
I may be temporarily weakened but I will return, striking at the hearts of those that you love most when you least expect it. Be forewarned, Son Goten, you have not seen the last of me.Goten shuddered and felt something unexpected flowing through him as he landed in a clearing not to far from his own house, as he gazed up at the cave entrance where it had began. He flew to the opening and ran inside, his fist hitting the walls, causing them to smash into chunks of falling debris as he entered the small cavern inside where light leaked through from a small hole in its dense surface. He ran his fingers over it nimbly and then absently traced the outline of the back of his skull, remembering that his own head, and then his body, had caused it. Turning, his Saiy-jin eyes narrowed in on the spot he'd been searching for, and he feel to his knees, able to see the thin and barely visible-from years of erosion-stain of blood where his friend had fallen.  
  
"WHY?!" he shouted, gripping the sides of his head as he tried not to crush the earth that was beneath him in remorse. "Why.are you doing this to me?! For.for what purpose am I being tormented?! Please.WHY?!!" He began to scream in frustration and then in pain, curling his teenage body around the mark on the ground, tears splashing the ground and mingling with dried blood, bringing back some of its moisture. His fingers pooled in it, raking it across the ground, trying to answer his own questions that had been shouted aloud, leaving him alone and begging for solutions he knew would never come. His hands traced the outline of the letter 't' before something bright nearly blinded him as it erupted from a place unseen and he felt himself being dragged until nothing but blackness welcomed him, and it was peaceful.  
  
School was out and the first thing Trunks did when he reached home was pick up the phone and call Goten's house. His elder brother answered, and he sounded rather winded. Trunks blushed at the thought, and remembered that Gohan had barely been married five years to his wife, and former classmate, Videl Satan, and they hadn't, as of yet, moved out from his mother's house.  
  
"Uh.gomen nasai for bothering you, Gohan-san, but is.um.is Goten home? Could I speak with him?" Gohan cleared his throat and he tried to muffle out the sounds of his spouse's giggles.  
  
"No, he isn't Trunks. Why? Is there something wrong with him?" Trunks froze.  
  
"I.um.no, not really, Gohan. Goten just seemed distant at school today, and I wanted to talk to him about it, but I guess he's just taking his time getting home. Well, I'll go now. Gomen nasai for bothering you, again," and he hung up, his face ashen due to the fact that he had just lied to his mentor. He shakily changed into a training uniform, and left Capsule Corporation, leaving a note to tell his mother that he'd gone out for a while and would return later. His brain told him where to find his friend, and the only thought that entered his mind as he flew at top speed towards the cave was that he hoped Goten hadn't done anything drastic. He summoned his strength and transformed into a Super Saiy-jin, something, he now realized, he could do ever since Goten had battled Bebi for all of their lives, and his heart sank as he increased his speed, desperate to reach his destination.  
  
When he finally made it into the dark depths of the long since forgotten cave, he felt the color drain from his face when he found half of his name etched out in blood on the floor and found claw marks in the stone. He bent down, measuring his hand to the scraps, and fell back, clutching his fingers with shock. Goten's hand was about the same size as his own, and.and they matched perfectly! He tried to conjure a possible hypothesis as to why there was no sign of Goten, when he knew for a fact that he had been here moments before because he felt his ki slowly diminishing from the place, and the only reasonable explanation he could come up with was that something had dragged him from floor, and in a panic in trying to remain where he was, he had caught hold of the ground for restrain, but that hadn't worked. All it left was a score of his fingernails, and Trunks was shaking. What had happened to him after that?!  
  
"Goten.Ch-Chibi.where are you?!" He heard movement, or rather, he felt it as something cold and remotely dark descended over his body.  
  
Trunks, it hissed before his mind was emptied of thought and he collapsed on the ground, his best friend's name on his lips in a frozen shout of terror.  
  
Goten woke some time later, floating in warmth and feeling comfort tingling over his body into a relaxation he hadn't felt in a long time. Gradually, his raven colored eyes flickered open and blinked themselves into focus, finding a beautiful and smiling face staring at him. His first instinct was to return it, but instead, he jumped back, tumbling from thin air and onto the hard ground as he screamed in alarm. The woman he'd awoken to appeared beside him in a flash, and touched her fingers to his lips, sending another sensation of heat through him, causing his mind to become slightly drowsy, but his Saiy-jin half rejected it, demanding answers.  
  
"W-where am.I? W-who.what are you?!" A voice, exquisite and tender, flowed through his mind as he realized that the woman was speaking to him telepathically, filling his head with several serene images.  
  
I am Ladi Megami, Son Goten of the realm of earth.I am protector of this galaxy and have seen it as your fate to come here. The Kais have allowed it and so.I have brought you. He opened his mouth, but then closed it. If she could talk with her mind, perhaps he could to, wherever he was. The blackness of space seemed to float around them, spinning ever endlessly with stars and planets while everything shimmered in a hazy blue the exact color Ladi Megami seemed to be dressed in.  
  
I.my fate? What do you mean by that? Ladi Megami waved her hand and the same images he had dreaded and had wished to forgot began playing before him in amazing rapidity. He lowered his head in shame as he watched his younger self twist the neck of his friend, and then it began over again. She glanced at him as she watched crystalline tears fall from his cheeks, and she reached out a hand, wiping them softly away.  
  
Do not be ashamed of these memories, Son Goten.you once saved the entire universe from an evil known as Bebi, King of the Tuffles, and.I ask you to do it again. Your planet, as well as the lives of all people, are in danger of being destroyed. His eyes widened and he stepped backwards, slipping to his knees as he began to shake his head.  
  
"No.no.I-I can't.never again will I." Ladi Megami moved her hand again in the same elegant fashion and this time, it showed Trunks, as he was now, unconscious on the ground in the dark of the cave he had somehow been pulled from.  
  
"Your friend.he has great love for you, as you do for him, and yet.he is greater peril than any being I have set my eyes upon," she spoke, her verbal words sounding more torturously sweet than her telepathic voice. She gazed sadly at him, her deep cerulean green eyes burning into his memory, and then, suddenly, he remembered.  
  
"Wait.you're.you're." But the words refused to come; he could hardly believe what was real and what wasn't. Ladi Megami laughed, low and magically addicting to his Saiy-jin hearing and his human heart, and she smiled sweetly at him.  
  
Yes.I was the one speaking to you, today.within the presence of your teacher. Do you remember.Goten swallowed harshly and nodded, recalling the strange look in her eyes as she had said those wild and exotic things to him about his past written down on paper.  
  
"I.then.then you knew along that I had really written, didn't you?" Ladi Megami removed the images from around them, leaving them in complete calmness.  
  
"I did, yes, but.your teacher did not, and I must admit, Son Goten, that I broke a few rules into forcing her to believe that you had done it.but it had to have been done. I needed you gone from that dreaded building so that you would come to that cave and so that I could have brought you hear, through a rift in dimensions.I am sorry that I didn't prepare you for the journey, but there was only so much time.before the universe is no more, and you are the only one that can do it." He didn't understand any of what she said, although it strangely made sense, and he was scared, so beyond frightened that he felt like he'd pass out any second.  
  
"You.I.I." Thoughts began to pour into his frozen brain. "Oh, Dende, is it.is it.him? Is it.Bebi? And.and what about.TRUNKS!" He began to sob. "No.no.you took me away from him when I should have stayed and protected him.he can't.not since.and you!" Ladi Megami touched his shoulder, making that same bizarre warmth filter through him. He jerked away from her. "No.no.don't touch me! I just want to go back.Trunks can't be left alone in that.in that p-place! Not if Bebi is back on earth! He'll kill him.l- like before.and I don't want him to." He fell to the ground, feeling, again, like that little boy who had been lonely and frightened, with nothing or no one to turn to for help. Ladi Megami stood silently beside his shaking body as he cried softly on the floor.  
  
Haven't you ever wondered how Trunks had come back to life that day, when Bebi had killed him and then you had killed Bebi? Yes, of course you have. How many times had I heard you pray to the heavens, asking for a simple answer, several in truth, but only one that would place your heart at peace, and how many times had I wished that I could take you away from that wretched warrior's life that had been placed in your lap without your boy's consent, and yet.and yet, you remained as you had started out to be.innocent, sweet, completely unaware of painful situations.and that was why I twisted the rules of destiny so long ago. Goten lifted his head and stared at her, finally noticing that there was a shimmer in her dark turquoise eyes that hadn't been there before.  
  
"W-what? What did you say?" Ladi Megami knelt gracefully beside him and touched his fingers, outlining the strong smooth hands that a musician might have had.  
  
I wanted to warn you, Son Goten.I wanted to tell you so much that an undeniable ache filled my heart, and I bent fate.shaped it to my will so that I could do what I wanted, but.but you were only a child and the dreams that I sent as messages always confused you and gave you more pain than you were used to. When you finally realized what they had been, it was too late; your friend was dead, and I had failed, although I already knew the outcome.that you would defeat Bebi, and that you would be alone for the rest of your life, never truly trusting or loving another as you had loved your best friend, and I.She turned her head away, a single solitary tear sliding down her ghostly white, but lovely face, and Goten sat up, almost knowing what she was trying to tell him, and he wanted to comfort her. He reached an arm out, a flood of warmth overflowing his heart, and he tried to embrace her as a friend to a friend, but she would not allow it.  
  
"No," she confessed aloud. "It is against everything that I not touch you, unless it be in a helpful manner, as before when you were in need of healing and peace. I." Goten ignored her protest and touched her, his arms sliding around her thin form, understanding that, even though she was guardian and goddess of the universe as he name said, she was remotely physical in body and had feelings, like everything else. He could feel the protest, but held her tightly, and she began to relax.  
  
"Then what would you call what you need, Ladi Megami? You broke rules to bring something back into my life, and.and I should return the favor." His words warmed the living part of her spirit and she clung to him, secretly yearning for him to never stop holding her, but as it was her fate to keep watch over everything, so it was his to leave and never come back. Her misty blue tears stained his clothing, and then suddenly, she was gone, the warmth of her body missing from his embrace, and the cold of the ground returning it instead. He opened his eyes, feeling the stickiness of the blood that he had been drawing in on his clenched hands, his ears aching with the whisper of her final words.  
  
It is not our fate to be, Son Goten, but it is yours to save those that you love.your family, your friend.they are all in danger, and I brought you to me, only to explain and hope that you would accept the horrid challenge I laid before you, like it had been given to you without choice during your childhood. Instead of disagreeing and denying what destiny was woven for you, you comforted me and gave my lonely heart as keeper of life belief that everything could rest on the youth of today.you have my faith, Son Goten.now, save your friend.Trunks needs you more than I, for he is in danger of dying again, and this time.I cannot help him.He blinked back the flood of tears that threatened to fall for her, the woman who had given almost everything for him and his friend, and stretched his sore limbs while he gathered his nerve and got to his feet.  
  
Despite the stench of stale death, he could smell the scent of Trunks with his Saiy-jin nose, and immediately knew everything was wrong. Not only did Ladi Megami's warning fire off through his brain, but the sight of fresh blood scattered with tiny traces of thin strands of lavender hair gave him the impression that Trunks was endanger, and he had to help him, but he didn't know where he was. Figuring it too late to notify any of the other Saiy-jins, he began a one-manned search, his eyes scanning the outside after he'd examined the cave thoroughly, no trace of his friend any where. He continued, ignoring the snapping of branches in his face and the scratch of thorns against his exposed flesh in a desperate attempt to find him, and at last, he stumbled upon the same clearing that he'd defeated Bebi in, the body of Trunks sprawled on the ground face first, blood pooling around him in a thick crimson puddle.  
  
"Trunks!" he cried, running to him and kneeling beside him. "Trunks, oh Dende, what happened? Are you.you better be alive! I can't loose you again, not like this!" He began shaking him and a moment later, Trunks let out a moan of pain, his throat contracting tightly as if he found it hard to talk.  
  
"G-get away from.run, Chibi, run! He's control-I can't.f-fight.any." A hand heavily drenched in red lashed up and backhanded Goten in the face, sending him sliding through the grass, marking his trail with dirt that the force had dug up underneath him. He sat up quickly enough to block another fist towards his already bleeding face, but was caught off guard by a spin kick to the head, which had everything spinning and him seeing stars. A hand gathered his bloodied shirt together and lifted him off the ground, allowing him to see Trunks' face, his teeth gleaming bright red with the stain of blood from an earlier injury as he smiled and Goten realized it was most likely when he had tried to oppose the controller but had failed. An evil twinkle sparkled beneath the deep color of his half sapphire, half violet eyes.  
  
"I told you, Son Goten, that we would meet again, as soon as I had gathered enough energy and was able to.how convenient it was for me that your friend had not perished with both of his untimely demises. He is now much stronger and weaker minded than before, when he was a child.now, you will die." Bebi-Trunks lifted his hand, the palm lining directly over his heart, and ki gathered outside of it, preparing to impale him on the shining orange energy. Goten squirmed but found that his grip was too tight, and looked up at the sky.  
  
Everyone's counting on me, he thought, desperately thinking of a way to get loose. Ladi Megami, Trunks, my entire planet, the universe.my friendship for Trunks is teetering and he's dying inside while Bebi controls his body and manipulates his every movement.his very soul. Unexpectedly, something hit his brain, and he struggled harder. It's him.Trunks.it's always been about him, hasn't it?! He has to survive and go on, so that he can be the strongest.why didn't I.? If he dies now, I fail my part in our destiny as friends.I'm not the one that's supposed to live.he is!  
  
"NO!" He wrenched the scream from his throat, his Super Saiy-jin aura cascading around him as he found that instead of Bebi-Trunks holding him, he had him by the throat, choking the life from him. Anger dominated his senses and the only thing holding him from killing him completely was the fact that Trunks wouldn't be able to come back instantly and so was content to strangling him, bruising his fingerprints into his flesh. "Not anymore, Bebi! I won't let the fact that you forced me do something awful to my friend hold me back from destroying you! Trunks must go on, and prevail over everything because he is needed for an even greater purpose, and since he is my best friend and I love him.you will not win! I will die before I see you controlling this place!" Blood began to pour from Bebi-Trunks' mouth and he gagged as he laughed.  
  
"F-foolish.foolish.boy.you-you idiot-tic mortal! I.cannot.cannot be defeated!! N-no one c-can for I am.I am Bebi, m-master of stealth and in- inhabiting bodies.you will become my s-slave, j-just like everyone else!" Bebi-Trunks ignited into a Super Saiy-jin, drawing from Trunks' power stores deep with his body, and the blast knocked Goten away, his golden shield evaporating as he collided with a tree, snapping it in half and breaking his right arm cleanly in two. He cried in pain, his eyes closing as it ebbed through his mind and he could hear his possessed best friend walking towards him, knowing that a cruel grin was upon the face that was not his.  
  
Hot white anguish seared his teenage body as a tanned hand gripped the fair hair on the top of his head and pulled his face back, stretching the tendons in his neck to their elasticity point. Fiery breath fanned his skin, bubbling up an undeniable hatred that coursed through him, making him breathe heavily with frustration, and he moaned his protest deep within his throat. Calling on his strength, he grasped the hand that moved towards his exposed flesh at the base of his neck and with held it from the tightening fingers.  
  
"P-please.Trunks, I know.know you're in there.somewhere-Dende, help me.PLEASE!!" A laugh staunched his cry for help and he broke the weak hold, grimacing with pain as a strong grasp clenched his throat. Goten barely saw the face gazing back at him before the dull ache in his broken appendage scorched another path of agony through him and he closed his eyes.  
  
"What's the matter, Son Goten? Or, should I say.Chibi? Isn't that the endearment that your friend calls you? Answer me, you worthless scum!!" Goten bit down on another painful cry as Bebi-Trunks grabbed him abusively by his broken arm and twisted it, sending his shut eyes to three times there normal width as they widen in shock. Suddenly, from out of no where, he began to sob, feeling tears flowing over his cheeks to drop on to his opponent's skin as he cried, suffering from the emotional torture that had been stressed upon him. He felt weak, and to his possessed friend, he probably was. "So, this is what you've diminished to, is it, Chibi? You truly are pathetic. I think I'll just kill you now and keep this body, since it seems to have more control than you do, you blubbering Saiy-jin." Goten braced himself for the inevitable, silent pleading for forgiveness at his failure and waited for it to end.  
  
Bebi.I command you to stop! A voice so painfully familiar to the injured half Saiy-jin cried out at them, partially begging, partially demanding, and Goten had thought he'd already died. There was no possible way for that person to be here, helping him, when his soul was in Other World. Could there? Slowly, he opened his eyes, swallowing the pain that engulfed his senses and made a strange choking sound as tears welled up. Bebi- Trunks immediately released him, dropping his defenseless body to the ground, and spun, his mouth twisting into a smirking sneer.  
  
In front of him, staring with cold black eyes filled with more hatred than anyone on the planet could have possessed at that moment, was his ultimate nemesis; Son Gokou, with his high and mighty power and his perfect little family. Within Trunks's no longer protesting body, Bebi felt his self- control slipping, but he would not give in to the consistent urge to tear him limb from limb. He wanted this to last, even though Son Gokou was already dead-the proof of it floating above his tall waving hair in a golden halo-and he wouldn't stop until everyone on this miserable planet suffered for bringing him to this greatest humiliation.living as a parasite within weaker, less desirable subjects.  
  
"Son Gokou.what a nice.surprise." The elder Saiy-jin's face changed from anger to shock as his sensitive ears picked up the whimpering coming from behind Bebi, and he flickered out, reappearing next to his nearly incapacitated child, concern written all over his expressive visage.  
  
Goten, hey, son.how're you feeling? Goten peeled his eyes open, pulling apart the crusted blood on his face and moaned in response, pain ebbing through him from his broken appendage and battered body.  
  
"O-otousan? Is.is that really." Suddenly, and without warning, he began to sob as he had before, making his injuries worse as the movement jarred his body, and his father felt helpless at not being able to do anything. He held his hands poised over his bleeding son, thoughts ripping his brain inside out, as he tried to decide what he should do, but nothing would come. Goten was on his own, and he could only give him comfort.  
  
Don't worry, Goten.it will be just fine. I'll take care of him, and make sure he pays for hurting you and.Immediately, he whipped his head around, his eyes blinking as if he was seeing Bebi for the first time. The lavender hair and Bulma-inherited blue eyes.Good Kami, why hadn't he seen it before?! Bebi was in possession of his youngest child's best friend; within his power he held.Trunks! You've out done yourself this time, Bebi! What do you think Vegeta would do to you if he knew that you were controlling his son?  
  
"I'll tell you exactly what I'd say, Kakarotto. I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" The Saiy-jin Prince extended his index finger and pointed menacingly at Bebi-Trunks, all the while his Super Saiy-jin aura circulated around him and his other hand clenched tightly into a fist near his torso. Gokou's mouth fell open as he stared, and Goten, still lying banged up and mangled on the ground, grinned like a drunken idiot at the familiar voice.  
  
H-how did you-  
  
"Please.you're even more gullible dead, Kakarotto. I believe that Other World has rotted what remained of your tiny brain over these ten years.I sensed an unfamiliarly large ki in this direction, and as I was flying out here, yours appeared." Gokou placed his hand behind his head and chuckled brightly even as the infamous Son grin developed.  
  
Aww.you got me there, Vegeta. I forgot all about-  
  
"Otousan.WATCH OUT!" Goten's throaty cry was cut short as he struggled to stand but failed, and his father turned quickly enough to counter a decisive blow to the temple, and he stumbled, falling back first into Vegeta, who nimbly moved out of the way to watch his old rival struggle to regain his composure. The Saiy-jin no Ouji's eyes quickly examined the layout, and he frowned, disliking the amount of blood already splattered on the ground, obviously from his spawn's wounded friend. Kakarotto's son was in too bad a condition to continuing fighting, and with Kakarotto, himself, already dead, it looked as though he would have to finish it, and kill Bebi, without injuring his brat. He hated limiting himself to such things.  
  
WOAH! Gokou cried, tripping over Goten's motionless form, who cried out in even more anguish, and he was sent sprawling flat on his face as Bebi-Trunks hovered over them, a cold smirk forming on his lips that Vegeta, who still stood observing, disliked way too much.  
  
"You are a fool to challenge me, Son Gokou. What gives you the thought that you would be able to defeat me? This body I have obtained control over is unstoppable." He allowed gravity to pull him down until he was inches from him, and he placed a foot over his neck, pinning him to the ground as he lifted a hand, alive with energy, to the side of his head. Gokou found his breathing ability cut in half and wondered how he was actually doing this when he knew that Bebi, himself, wasn't very strong physically, and there was- How could he keep forgetting something like that?! He had control over Trunks, and that meant his power stores as well, and as far as he could remember, Trunks had been extremely powerful and probably remained so. Gokou heaved against him, spin kicking Bebi- Trunks's legs out from under him, and the energy blast meant to kill him was sent hurtling into the sky, and his enemy fell, landing on top of his immobile son.  
  
Goten's scream ripped through Gokou's heart, and Vegeta stayed frozen to the ground, unable to move at the prospect of doing something unnecessary. There was no room for flaws in this battle. The young half Saiy-jin weakly cracked his eyes open, feeling the weight of a body on his, and his gaze met that of a peaceful looking Trunks, who, aside from the blood running from his nose, seemed rested. He wanted to help his friend, but he was in so much pain and.instantly, the eyelids snapped open, revealing cruelly intensified pupils of emotionless blue, and a smirk spread onto the face, even as a tiny voice whispered to Goten from within the depths of his soul while gazing into the windowed mirror of Bebi- Trunks's evil heart.  
  
"Trunks-kun.you know.that I care about you, right? And if I could stop anything from happening to you I would, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I know, Chibi.I care for you, too, but."  
  
"Aishiteru.I love you, Trunks-kun, and I'm never going to let you die! Never!!" He choked, as if hearing those words for the first time. He had given that promise to Trunks long ago when he'd had an extremely intense nightmare, and he'd been afraid of losing him, then, and now- it gave him some incentive of trying to help Trunks regain control of his own body.  
  
"What are you smiling at, Bebi?! Get.off.of.ME!" With an increase in his energy and a most excruciating move, he slammed his fist into Bebi-Trunks's face, sending him airborne. The defenseless body skidded across the ground, past Gokou, who was dusting himself off, and right into a tree, indenting it with the impression of his limbs and face before he slid languidly to the earth in a pile of arms and legs. Goten staggered to his feet, clutching his arm, which dangled grotesquely at his side, and spit on the ground, a sign of disgust as well as ending; he was tired of playing around, and besides.he wanted his best friend back!  
  
Goten, are you- He shot a sideways glance at his father and nodded, smirking in a very Saiy-jinish manner, which Vegeta instantly recognized. Finally, the boy was tired of wallowing in self-pity; he really didn't want to be Bebi right now, but as it was, that was also his son, and he hoped Goten knew exactly what he was doing. Both his and Gokou's eyes followed every movement as the demi Saiy-jin limped forward, gritting his teeth to keep from shouting in pain, and Bebi-Trunks rose slowly, wiping a mixture of blood and spit from his chin. His blue eyes flashed with challenge.  
  
"You'll pay dearly for that, Chibi.I won't let you forget that you were once haunted by Bebi, King of the Tuffles." Goten glared at him, more hate welling up within him at each word he said with Trunks's tone, and wordlessly, his fair hair wavered and his clothes rippled before raw Saiy- jin energy ripped loose from his body, completely dulling the pain from existence and igniting the forest in a searing golden aura of ki. Gokou, although unable to retain his physical body, had to shield his eyes and squint into the blinding light that surrounded them, and Vegeta only glared, his thoughts askew with morbid fascination. The earth crumbled in on itself, creating huge craters that were an example of the fire that burned within the depths of the demi Saiy-jin's soul, and trees uprooted themselves, but through it all, Bebi-Trunks just stood facing him, the ever present smirk on his stolen face.  
  
"You will never haunt me, Bebi! NEVER! I've put you behind me, and I will free my friend from you, only to destroy you afterward! Ladi Megami has foretold this to me.you will not survive!" His voice was raw and his throat burned with the intensity of the mixed emotions coursing through him, but his point was made clear; he would kill Bebi, even if it meant sacrificing himself. Bebi-Trunks, however, sneered at him and began laughing hysterically.  
  
"You are such a wonderful toy, Chibi. Always the joke that people laugh at because they feel the need, because you are different. What would your friend say if he knew what you felt for him? What would he do?" A threat. Something Bebi would typically say, but what was he talking about? What feelings did he have for Trunks? Yes, he loved him, after all, he'd been his friend for eternity, but it was nothing more than a brotherly type of love. Wasn't it?  
  
Goten shook his head, feeling dazed and drowsy, and he turned to look at his father, whose face was pale and rather expressionless at the moment. What was he thinking? And Vegeta, who revealed nothing, what about him? He slung his head again, trying to wipe away the doubt and unreal things that Bebi was somehow forcing into his mind, but they would not go way. They just wouldn't leave them alone.  
  
Dende, Ladi Megami, help me.please.please help me.I don't know what to do.I don't-  
  
-I brought you to me, only to explain and hope that you would accept the horrid challenge I laid before you, like it had been given to you without choice during your childhood. Instead of disagreeing and denying what destiny was woven for you, you comforted me and gave my lonely heart as keeper of life belief that everything could rest on the youth of today.you have my faith, Son Goten. Faith? He had her faith? What about his own? Where was it when he needed it? Kami help him, but he didn't think-  
  
"Stay out of my head, Bebi! Quit messing with my emotions! I'm going to kill you, so stop delaying the inevitable! Let's fight!" In a quick rush of movement, it had begun, only to end.with Goten as the victor. Without his control through Goten's fear, anger, and mortification, Bebi no longer had any power over the half Saiy-jin, and it lead to disaster. Both older Saiy-jins watched with fast moving eyes as he raced at him, teleporting from his frontal vision to reappear behind him and attack him with a devastating blow to the back of the neck, sending Bebi-Trunks to his knees. Not wasting any time, he followed with a combination of swift kicks and extremely hard punches that had his enemy sprawled on the ground, just inches from Vegeta's white booted feet, blood staining his face from newly opened abrasions.  
  
Bebi struggled to get up, but oddly found the hosted body resisting, forcing him to struggle with himself whether to stay down or continue fighting. Before he could decide, Goten's pale-lit face from the aura floating around him with sparks of hinted electricity cracking every so often emerged into his vision, and a look of terror washed over him. The youth smirked at this and leaned back, gaining leverage which he used to kick him in the face, first with the tip of his boot and then with the heel, three times over. Bebi-Trunks found he was growing weaker and was soon spitting up more blood as the kicking continued. Was he losing? Was he actually being defeated in battle by some kid, a brat, that didn't have a clue what real power was? No.no, he could not be! He was Bebi, King of the Tuffles!  
  
"Yes.you are!" Goten whispered in his ear, causing him to jerk back. How had he known what he was thinking? He was no mind reader- "No, but it's written all over your face. Just wait.it isn't over yet." Bebi-Trunks tried to lift his forearm up to block the on-coming blow, but his strength was just too diminished and he was slammed head first into the ground, where blood gushed from his nose and his mouth, pouring down the front of his gi to stain the dusty earth beneath him. Immediately, weight pressed against his chest and he felt the plated bone giving, cracking under the pressure. He did the only thing that entered his mind.he screamed.  
  
"Yes.scream.shout for mercy! Know that someone much stronger than you is destroying your very existence.and it was all because you thought you could take a little boy's best friend away from him.sad really.but I think it ends here!" He lifted his foot, preparing to bring it crashing through his unprotected and fragile breastbone, but then-  
  
"C-Chibi.k-kill me.n-now!" That voice, so weak and without emotion except for pain and hurt.it couldn't be-  
  
"Trunks-kun?" He glanced down at the blood soaked face that looked like nothing more than a pulp of skin and bright red liquid, and his lips trembled when he saw familiar blue eyes gazing back at him from beneath sweat soaked lavender hair. Trunks forced a soft, although laborious smile.  
  
"Hey, b-bud.please.please, C-Chibi.kill me.kill us both.stop him from." His eyes closed and his head fell to the side, no longer supportive. Goten fell to his knees, immediately gathering his limp friend in his good arm, and held him close as his power dropped low and tears began to slide down his cheeks.  
  
Trunks.oh, Kami.what have I done to you, Trunks-kun?! He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, seeing his father's faded but bright face.  
  
You know what to do, Goten.you've done all that you can, but you have to let him go.there's always the dragon balls, and besides.Bebi will never hurt you again. Goten shook his head, not wanting to listen. He didn't want to use the dragon balls to bring Trunks back; he wanted his friend the way he was now.not just a spirit within the shell of his companion's body. Vegeta stepped next to his supposed archrival.  
  
"Kakarotto, leave the brat alone, and go back to your own dimension. You've-just how did you get here?!" Gokou scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders, smiling.  
  
Don't really know. That's a good question, though.I'll have to ask King Kai or maybe I'll see that woman again and she'll tell me. Anyway.Goten, use your head, son. Use your head. As Gokou's body began to fade, Goten looked up at him and watched as he briefly tapped his fingers to his lips, and then continued to grin as he disappeared from his life, again. What was that gesture about? What could-  
  
"Vegeta.please.don't get disgusted or anything.just.trust me," the youth explained quickly, gathering his energy in a way he hadn't thought capable for a human or a Saiy-jin. The Prince's eyebrow rose in question, but he stepped back, and inspected the scene as Goten's head dipped low and his mouth pressed against his son's.  
  
NANI?! What was the kid doing?! It was revolting and immorally wrong and.and a lot of other things he refused to think at the moment, but.why was he kissing his son? What- Vegeta felt the surge in ki and his thoughts evaporated, leaving only more questions that he refused to ask and decided to figure out on his own.by watching, no matter how disgusting it was.  
  
Both of Goten's arms folded around his friend, banding him into his embrace as he felt the still dormant part of Bebi's spirit trying to protest, and focused his ki to flow through his mouth into Trunks's body. It was pushed into his throat and fed into his limbs and torso, causing a deep cry of outraged anger to dissolve from his best friend's flaccid mass, and abruptly, Trunks's own arms grabbed his shoulders, trying to shove him away and then pull him closer at the same time. He was winning, he could feel it within himself, and he knew that the energy he concentrated through their joined mouths was destroying Bebi and helping Trunks regain control. It had to work.it just had to!  
  
Slowly, almost passionately, he could feel his friend responding to his kiss, and when he felt the angry whip of wind beating at his hair as a voiceless mist shrieked from the pours in Trunks's body, crying out his name in revenge as it vanished, he knew that it was over. Finally, after all of the hardships that he'd had to endure, and the close calls that had almost taken the life from his friend, it was over, and he had only Ladi Megami, goddess of the universe, and his father to thank for it, but mostly.it had been his friendship for Trunks and his for him that had pulled them out of it together. He pulled back, but felt arms stronger than his own clamping him harder to Trunks's mouth and they continued kissing for another minute before he felt the hands drop, and his friend's head fall back against the ground. Goten blushed nervously and glanced at Vegeta, whose face looked rather pale, but thinking it to be the sun's reflection, he ignored it and glanced at Trunks, who was beginning to groan, and tried to think. Just why had he kissed him, anyway?  
  
"G-good Kami, Chibi.ya shoulda killed me.at least then.it wouldn't hurt as much," he complained, trying to force his eyes open despite the blood cementing them shut. As soon as he was able to see, even only a little, he smiled crookedly at his father and at his best friend. "K-Konnichi wa, Otousan.C-Chibi?"  
  
"Y-yeah? What is it?" Goten leaned forward, close enough to hear Trunks, who was now beginning to talk in a soft whisper and whose eyes were closing in fatigue.  
  
"You're my tomodachi, Chibi.always and forever.no matter what." Goten smiled softly and patted Trunks's shoulder as he slowly climbed to his feet.  
  
Absolutely.they would be best friends forever, through thick or thin.no matter what. Painstakingly, and much too slow for Vegeta's liking, he gathered his unconscious comrade up in his arms and they headed for home, no longer responsible for worrying about Bebi. They're friendship had won out, but even that was soon to be tested, again, and this time, neither of them would be able to stop it when it happened, but forever, they were joined together by destiny and friends for life.  
  
A/N: Well, how was that? The chapters from here on in will be shorter, but still as good. Please review, and thank you Leaf Zelidor for giving me my first review^_^  
  
Reader's Note: Megami is the Japanese word for 'goddess'. Go figure. 


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: You know the drill- don't own it, don't sue.  
  
Author's Note: Gomen Nasai about the delay in chapters.life has been pretty hectic and I haven't had much time to actually take the opportunity to sit down and write chapter three, but as promised, here it is. It does, now, take place in the Dragon Ball GT timeline and please excuse the estimate on ages.if there was anyway to be totally accurate, I wouldn't be guessing, would I? Hopefully, this won't make things as complicated as they are/were for any of you readers. These will be shorter, from here on out, and please, be very, very patient with me. I can get to what needs to be done, and trust me, Trunks and Goten will end up happier than they were ever before they met Bebi.hmm, what's going to happen this time? And, what's the real reason Goten missed the spaceship with Gokou and Trunks? Heh-  
  
Well, enough babbling.go on and read, keeping in mind that this is probably going to end up being slightly A/U, and review!  
  
Chapter Three  
  
~Eleven Years Later~  
  
~*Goten's Point of View*~  
  
I had never really lost the interest to fight, not with battle being in my blood because I was half Saiyajin, but the motivation just wasn't there anymore. After spending quite some time of my younger years coping with the knowledge that I had saved Chikyuu twice and had killed my best friend in the process, all before I was twenty, it had finally struck home, and I gave up what I loved for the sake of my sanity.  
  
I know I'm not the brightest person in the world, not when my older brother outshines me as a graduated scholar and my father is a person not exactly known for his intelligence, but I do fine figuring things out, even if it does take me awhile to actually get the point across to my brain. But that was the key to my management of things; it took me so long to recollect all of the memories from my early childhood and teenage years that when they finally caught up with me, I was far too horrified to do anything about it aside from stopping something that was almost as normal to me as breathing.  
  
I suppose that was when everyone began to worry about me, especially my mother- and him.  
  
Him- good Kami-sama, if he wasn't my best friend and I didn't love him as much as I did, I would think I was going insane. Just imagine it- a twenty- seven year old man, fairly average in height, perhaps a little taller, with wild black hair that spiked towards the sky with extreme stubbornness and eyes even darker than that, running down the street, maybe naked, perhaps only in boxers, screaming at the top of his overtaxed lungs all because he thought he was going crazy and didn't care what people thought any more. Makes a nice picture, doesn't it? Yeah, I thought so, too, but that was before I actually realized that I might have had a problem.  
  
"Goten, sweetheart, don't mope like that. It's bad for your health," Chichi commanded, walking into my room with a sudden desire to her whim. It was pathetic, really. Here I was, more than capable of taking care of myself, and I still lived with my mother. Oh, well, that saying 'home is where the heart is' really fit my situation perfectly.  
  
I managed to sit up somewhat from the slouch I had thrown myself into across the desk, and lazily cupped my chin in my hand, staring out the window. I could hear her dusting an obviously dirty shelf off, but that wasn't helping my predicament any; actually, it was making me more depressed than I cared to be. Couldn't she just leave me alone?  
  
"Onegai, Goten, please listen to me for once. You've been acting like this ever since Trunks-san left." I inhaled deeply and sighed as I turned to look at my mother. Would she never stop reminding me of that stupid incident nearly nine months past? That was my main cause of despair, and it was all because of a stupid phone call and Vegeta's desire to make us into "proper Saiyajin warriors."  
  
~Flashback~  
  
I nearly wanted to die when Trunks's father literally forced both of us to go on a search for the Black Star Dragon Balls-where they all were, who really wanted to know?- just so Chikyuu wouldn't be destroyed a year from now. Trunks almost seemed glad to be getting out of his duties as being president of Capsule Corporation, but I, on the other hand, didn't want to leave. It wasn't because I knew that I wouldn't enjoy it, in fact, being in the middle of space somewhere, most likely lost, with both Trunks and my father, who had somehow managed to get himself into quite a mystifying dilemma by being turned into a child with the very things we were looking for, sounded like the most exciting thing to happen since Majin Buu had been released, but I was afraid that being up there, alone, would single all of us out. I seemed to have quite an aura for attracting little aliens that wanted to destroy Chikyuu and my best friend in the process. It was for Trunks's sake, and maybe my own, that I didn't want to go.  
  
Almost as if a sign from Dende himself, my cell phone rang, and although I dreaded answering it, automatically knowing who was on the other end, I hit the power button and decided to anyway.  
  
"Moshi moshi?"  
  
"Hey, Goten-kun, whatcha doing?" I almost keeled over when I heard the voice on the other end. It was my girlfriend, or well, to put it more precisely, one of my girlfriends. I moved around a lot, never wanting to stay in one place with the same person for too long. If this was the message Kami and Dende were sending me, then by all means, I wasn't going to pass up the chance of saving my friend- and myself.  
  
"Hiya, babe, nothing really. What are you doin'?" I heard a girlish giggle and rolled my eyes, even as I slowly began to fly towards Capsule Corporation. Please, just let her talk about what she normally does, I begged the gods, and perhaps, they were smiling down on me today, because that was exactly what she did.  
  
"Well, I went shopping today. Do you know how much these shoes that I'm wearing cost me? It was like-" And on she went, not caring if I was listening or not. I was actually glad, for a change that she wasn't paying attention to the fact that I had no interest in the conversation and was just using her as an excuse to not go into space with Trunks and my father. Minutes passed, maybe an hour, and then I heard an extremely deafening sound that was similar to the roar of an engine, and I smiled like a lunatic. Shortly after, a streak of light left the ground, heading for the higher atmosphere, and I suddenly felt my heart sinking even though my head was congratulating me on another well-won victory.  
  
"Say, babe, you busy any chance this weekend? It seems like I won't have to go anywhere for a while-"  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
Now, I really wished I had went with them. I didn't realize that I would have missed my best friend as much as I did now if I hadn't gone with him on a little adventure into space. He was, most likely, light years away, and it felt like part of my soul had went with him, leaving my other half empty and alone here on Chikyuu. What was the deal with that? I was so miserable that I couldn't even think about it.  
  
"Don't mention that, 'Kaasan. I know how long he's been gone." With the sound I got from her, it was as though she would have preferred me going outside and banging my head against every hard object I could find, just so I wouldn't be in the house, sitting on my butt, and doing nothing but moping in my own self pity for abandoning my own friend in outer space, with my father, of all people.  
  
"Goten, really, if that's all you're going to do, then perhaps you should have went with them. There was nothing holding you here, and you know that." She sounded almost sincere, but this was my mother I was talking about. She would seem like she cared, but all she really wanted was an excuse to badger the person until they either blew up in her face and went off stomping or just went off stomping to hurt something. That was how she always had been, but apparently only I knew that; Gohan was oblivious to everything, except for the fact that a certain daughter of his had stowed-away on a certain ship already carrying two Saiyajins prepared for months of living in the abyss of space.  
  
"I know that, 'Kaasan. Will you just leave me alone?!" I hadn't meant to yell at her, honestly I hadn't, but the stress of the past eight months was finally getting to me. Perhaps I shouldn't have given up fighting after all; it had always been a way for me to express the emotions bubbling up inside of me, and now that I didn't have that, I was taking it out on my poor-unexpecting mother, who looked about ready to cry or something almost as dramatic.  
  
"Well, if you say you don't need my help, Goten, then I won't offer it, but you should really-"  
  
"'Kaasan, please!" The growl leapt out of my throat involuntarily and she squeaked, turning rather pale as she turned around, leaving the things she was cleaning alone, and left the room. Cursing my stupidity, knowing that she really didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of my problems, I contemplated on whether or not I should pay a visit to the Saiyajin no Ouji, knowing that he would more than be glad to pound me into oblivion for a while.  
  
Half an hour later, I leapt out my window, prepared to take up the thing that I had long since left behind with my earlier troubles, a grim frown on my face.  
  
A/N: Well, I could get used to doing that to people- stopping in an inappropriate place where it leaves you wondering? What will happen to poor Goten-kun? Will he really let Vegeta beat the hell out of him because he's a-missin' our favorite lavender haired bishounen? Or will he end up in another, less enthusiastic predicament? Hehe- I'll post chapter four as soon as possible. 


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: Do I really have to explain this?  
  
Author's Note: Well, I'm rolling today.let's see how things are going with poor Tru-kun up there in space with Gokou and Pan-chan. Uh, oh.our "favorite" evil bad guy is back ~please insert evil laugh here~ R&R!  
  
Chapter Four  
  
~*Trunks's Point of View*~  
  
I slammed the door to my room in the spaceship, actually letting it slide shut with a loud whoosh!, thinking to escape Pan's incessant bickering at the mess that I, somehow, left all over the place without cleaning up, and Gokou's constant complaint that he was hungry, tired, and smelled like rotting fish. Truthfully, I thought he carried that precarious odor, but I wasn't about to tell someone who was stronger (A/N: no pun intended) than me what he was wafting around. Smiling at my own malevolent thought, I flopped down in a chair facing my desk and began to work.  
  
Honestly, I didn't know what had gotten into me over the past months that we had been out searching for the Black Star Dragon Balls, but it was really doing something for the work my mother had somehow snuck in my bags. I was doing figures, pie charts, and percentages with more ease than I had since I'd graduated high school, but I think it was all a rouse to put my already strained mind at ease. I missed home, not that I didn't mind being away from my father and my bratty little sister, and I was even beginning to miss skipping out on the boring days of signing papers at Capsule Corporation, but nothing could compare to the loneliness I felt being out here by myself. Sure, I had Pan and Gokou, but Pan was a teenage girl too mature for her own good, and Gokou.well, let's just say that he was different. Yeah, different was a fine word to use; it was a safe word. Aside from them, I had no one to relate to, no one who knew my exact thoughts and could easily comply with them. What I meaning to say is- I didn't have Goten.  
  
Even thinking about him all the way out here as we headed for home made me forget about all of the weird perverse things that Pan and her grandfather had forced me into (I will refrain from mentioning one in particular, but let's just say I'll never look at a dress the same way again), and the fact that we had a strange little half-starved kid in the med lab, obviously hallucinating and brain damaged, for lack of a better term. Why the two Sons persisted on helping strange creatures I would never know, nor did I want to, but even remembering them, the family members who were just in the next room doing Kami knew what, made me long to see my best childhood friend more than I ever had wanted to in my entire life.  
  
I didn't know why it was, but ever since we had left Chikyuu eight months and two days back, I've had this feeling that Goten and I had drifted apart over the years, particularly after the incident revolving around Bebi. He really was a sly one, trying to turn my companion into droning killer who would do anything under his command, but perhaps it was me that should have been saying that instead. He had taken control of my body twice, both times without my really recollecting it after it was all said and done, and in those moments, my younger friend had been there to save me. It was always him that had stopped the inevitable, and if my fuzzy memory recalled correctly, he had even kissed me once to save my life.  
  
My insides instantly melted when I remembered that moment, and I lay the pen that I held poised over the paper down as I closed my eyes. That was the most exhilarating thing I had ever experienced, especially coming from someone of the same sex, even doing that with the girls I had seen hadn't compared, and I never forgot it. I can still picture it- Goten's arms tightly embracing my lax, nearly dead body which Bebi still inhabited as his warm lips linked with my own to create a seal so tight it felt as though he would devour my entire being through that joining. It was only when I had actually gained some sense did I realize what he was attempting, and as the ki flowing through my limbs warmed me to my soul, it left me with only one motivation- I kissed him back.  
  
If only my father hadn't been there, if only Goten knew what I had felt for him then, if we hadn't been injured to such an extent where we could barely move, if.the entire scenario was based on 'ifs' and I couldn't stand that. I was so desperate for any amount of attention, that I would have done anything to get him to notice me-  
  
"TRUNKS!!" Oh, Kami-sama, what did she want now?! That girl was beginning to infuriate me to such an extent I could have blown a hole in the wall of the spaceship. Don't get me wrong, I loved Pan -how could I not?- but she was almost as annoying as Gokou, to a certain extent, and as luck would have it, they were both my friends, and I couldn't do anything about it, not directly, anyway.  
  
"Trunks-kun, where in Dende's name are you?! If you don't answer me right this- oh, there you are!" The nearly five foot, tomboyish girl stood in my now open door, staring death through my back, which I had turned to the entrance in hopes to feign intense study. Why couldn't I have inherited my father's coldness? For once, this would have been the opportunity to use it, especially when I didn't feel like talking to her, or Gokou. Time to use the stupid, innocent act I had somehow acquired around her.  
  
"What is it, Pan-chan? Can't you see I'm busy?" Not too sickeningly sweet, but with just enough of it to soften any girl's heart. Thank the kaios it had worked.  
  
"Yeah, I know you are, but Ojisan said to get you. There was an incident down in the medical lab, and-" I nearly knocked the chair over as I hurriedly stood up and spun, scaring Pan at the speed of my movement. I knew there was something wrong with that boy we had rescued; I had known all along.  
  
"What is it?! Did he say?!" Pan's face was rather pale; I guess she hadn't seen me this worked up since the last planet we had been on. I'm going to save myself the trouble and refrain from mentioning just how horrible a time I had there. Why did it always seem like someone or something was out to get me? I was just lucky, I guess, and all the times I had been in a tight spot on this trip, Goten hadn't been there to bail me out. Oh, well, I was still alive, wasn't I?  
  
"N-no, he didn't, but I think you should just-" I rushed past her before she even finished the sentence, flying quickly through the hallways without a glimpse backwards. When I finally reached my destination, the door was ajar, with trays of medical needles thrown haphazardly on the floor. I picked up a fistful and entered, only to be greeted by a swift body tackling me to the ground, a roar deafening my ears. A tightened hand landed solidly with my jaw, and despite being half Saiyajin, I saw stars spinning around my head. So much for my reflexes.  
  
"Ojisan, that's Trunks!" Pan shouted, pulling my attacker and myself from a daze. What the hell? Gokou had struck me?  
  
"Oh." There was a paused silence and then it must have made a connection with the older Saiyajin's brain because his small form leapt off mine with the finesse of a fighter beyond that of his physical appearance. "OH! Trunks-san, I didn't mean to do that. I didn't know it was you." I sat up, waving my hand around and rubbing my partially sore jaw.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Gokou. I kinda figured-"  
  
"GET THOSE THINGS AWAY FROM ME!!" The childish-looking man literally plastered himself to the far wall, his large black eyes wider than bowling balls as he stared at me. What in the -oh, the needles. I quickly tossed them behind me, not noticing that Pan had to duck to avoid them, and smiled impishly.  
  
"Gomen, Gokou-san, I didn't realize that I had those-" A devilish laugh filled the air, and I felt my ki spiking. What was the deal with everyone interrupting me?! My eyes leveled with the boy, correction, creature, cowering in the corner of the med lad, limbs trembling and half exposed by the ripped material of his strange clothes. He was mumbling something, now that he wasn't giggling relentlessly, but I couldn't make out what he was saying, even with my sensitive hearing.  
  
"Ojisan, what's wrong with him?" Pan stepped beside me, a quizzical but otherwise serious look on her face, and Gokou only stared, his usually carefree demeanor replaced with something more solemn, giving him the almost exact persona of my father.  
  
"I don't know, but I suggest we find a hospital, and fast. How much longer until we reach Chikyuu?" Pan instantly replied with a guessed estimate, and a few hours later, we sat in an infirmary, hands clasped together and expressions that would have looked much better being 'happy-go- lucky' on our faces.  
  
It was considerably boring, waiting for the doctor's thesis, but what were we to do? Gokou and Pan would not abandon him, even though they had no clue as to who the boy was, and I was forced to wait with them. Where was help when I needed it? In fact- where was Goten and what was he doing at this moment? Oddly enough, I didn't have to wait long to get my answer.  
  
A/N: Well, another chapter finished! Yeah, for me, and most likely for all the people reading this! The next part will be up as soon as possible, and finally my own ideas of how GT, during this part, were supposed to be will shine through, although I think they are as of this moment. Who would have guessed? Please review, and possibly give me suggestions!! 


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: If I really need to get into this, please go back to school and- LEARN TO READ!!  
  
Author's Note: Well, here it is, Chapter Five in a now seemingly long, and probably pointless fanfic. I hope it's up to your expectations, and I'm praying to Kami and Dende both that this isn't a total disappointment. Well, we're back at ye ol' Capsule Corporation and out of first person point of view, although I will probably lapse and go back into it later on in certain chapters for emphasis- R&R!  
  
Chapter Five  
  
"I didn't know my face could hurt this much," Goten complained as he heavily flopped on the couch next to Bra, who was momentarily flipping through her latest fashion magazines. She chose to ignore him for the time being, knowing that it was missing her brother that was sending the usually happy Son into a state of depression, and shook her head as she looked over him. His lip was busted open, dried blood dribbling down his chin, and one of his eyes appeared nearly purple as the swelling finally settled in. She knew that Vegeta had been relentless when he'd "sparred" with him, especially since he'd gotten into a fight with her mother moments before Goten had showed up. Arguing with Bulma, over seemingly petty or serious things, always sent the proud Saiyajin no Ouji off his rocker, and Goten was just the lucky contestant to win an all-expense paid trip to the Gravity Room for a training session that literally translated as 'I'll-beat- you-black-and-blue-until-this-mood-I'm-in-vanishes.'  
  
"Maybe you should put some ice on it." What she really wanted to say to him probably would have sent him through the roof, even though he looked too exhausted to lift his head from the back of the couch.  
  
'Gee, thanks for stating the obvious, Bra-chan," he mocked sarcastically, not even opening his one good eye to look at the exact image of both Bulma and Vegeta rolled into a single body. He really couldn't stand gazing at a face that so achingly reminded him of Trunks, not when he'd spent the last two hours being ground into Saiyajin burger by a man that held the outward temperament of his best friend, and he sighed, ignoring the plea of his brain to lock out the pain as he let it washed over him.  
  
It made him feel more real than he had in a long time.it made him feel something other than anxiety.  
  
"Gomen, Bra-chan, I didn't mean to snap at you. I just-"  
  
"You just miss Trunks. Yeah, we all know that Goten-san." His eyes shot open. Who knew?! He almost went into a panic. Did they also know that he- no, they couldn't.could they?  
  
"Oh, that's nice. Yeah, really, really, nice to hear, Bra-chan." Act cool, Goten, just act cool, he told himself. He really couldn't, though, not when his heart was beating a thousand times faster than it had just a few minutes ago after his spar with Vegeta. Bra glanced at him again.  
  
'Are you alright, Goten-san, you don't sound like you enjoyed that statement."  
  
"Why would I?! Tell me why I would look comfortable knowing that everyone knows I miss your brother!" Her large crystal blue eyes filled with tears, and he suddenly realized what he'd just done. He'd screamed at her, a thirteen-year-old girl who was just trying to make idle conversation, and he'd bitten her head off because he was scared that people would know.  
  
"G-gomen nasai, Goten, I didn't mean anything by it. I just.I was just trying-" She bit her lip and immediately left the room, leaving him in the silence of their living room. Shimatta! He hadn't meant to do that to her; to Bra; to a girl he loved like a sister. Kami, was he being condemned for the crimes he had failed to stop previously in his life. Bebi.Majin Buu.Bebi.had he mentioned Bebi? Dende be damned, he was such a pathetic loser!  
  
Quickly getting up with more speed then he thought his body could handle, he headed for the door, thinking to leave, never really wanting to come back to a place that filled him with too many memories, but a hand, and a very powerful one of that, grabbed him by the back on the shirt.  
  
"Hold it right there, boy," Vegeta's monotonously cold voice commanded as he dragged Goten to a halt. Oh, great! Now he was in for it.  
  
"What is it, Vegeta? Does it really look like I'm in the mood to have one of your discussions right now?!" Kami, where had that come from?!  
  
"Hn. I don't know what you're talking about, brat, but I wanted to tell you something. He'll be home sooner than you think." And with that, the Prince turned around and walked off. Goten let out a breath of pent up air, praising Dende that there hadn't been any confrontation, and forgetting what he had told him, he opened the door and flew away, not looking back.  
  
~A few hundred miles away; the nearest hospital~  
  
"What in Kami-sama's name is taking so long?" Pan whined, pacing the floor past Gokou and Trunks for the millionth time. Trunks was beginning to wonder if she was going to wear a hole in the floor with her walking and one in his head with her complaints, but he was content to sit quietly, thinking. He wanted to go home! There were only miles from being at Capsule Corporation.okay, maybe a little more than a few miles, but they were on Chikyuu, at least, and he wanted to spend that night in his bed, with his things surrounding him, and his best friend.  
  
Instantly, Trunks blushed red at the thought, trying to get images of him out of his mind, and turned his head when a slim young nurse came walking toward them, immediately making him forget about Goten for the moment.  
  
"Well it's about time!" Pan chided, hands on her hips in imitation of her grandmother, and he saw Gokou nodding off even as the woman placed her sultry body in front of his face. Trunks tried nudging him, but to no avail, he completely dropped off into sleep, and his head propped itself against her thigh. In a split second, she had moved so fast that he even had to blink before he realized that the older Saiyajin in a child's body was lying flat on the linoleum, his cheek indented with her knee. Gokou lay in a pile, blinking several times, and just stayed there, directly falling asleep once again. He was hopeless!  
  
"Ojisan, you're not helping any!" Pan kicked him with the toe of her boot, but he remained as he was and she just sighed. "Please excuse my grandfather for that, lady. He's apparently suffering from sleep deprivation." The woman plastered on, what looked like, a fake smile and only nodded, glancing sideways at Trunks. Oh, good Kami-sama, would the horde never end?  
  
"Uh, yeah, so, is the thing- boy doing alright?" the lavender haired bishounen asked, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes.  
  
"If you would, I need you to come with me, S-sir." Pan moved to where Trunks was sitting, prepared to go as well.  
  
"Hold it right there, lady. Tell me why Trunks gets to go and I don't!" The nurse glanced down at the quarter Saiyajin with nothing more than partial interest before turning her back.  
  
"You aren't old enough, little girl." With that statement, she waved Trunks to follow and he slowly got up, sighing disdain in a low tone. Pan angrily grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and shook him hard enough to make his teeth rattle in his head. What was her problem?  
  
"Tell her I'm not a 'little' girl, Trunks-san, before I do something drastic. I'm a lot more mature than you and Ojisan put together. It isn't fair!" Trunks twisted away from her grip and dusted himself off.  
  
"Look, Pan, you wanted to come here. Now let me handle this so we can go home. I'm tired of being somewhere I don't have to be." Immediately, her expression altered and she crossed her arms.  
  
"Fine, but hurry up!" She quickly turned around, giving her back to the half Saiyajin, and he walked after the nurse, carefully stepping over a sleeping Gokou. Trunks could only guess that he was still relying on space- time, or something similar because it wasn't normal for anyone, especially him, to fall over, dead to the world, like that. Looking ahead, he found his eyes watching the way her hips swung, noticing that it was slightly off to what a normal female would do to get a man's attention. He knew all about that; Kami did he know, even if he didn't want to. They eventually passed the room he recognized as the boy's, and began to wonder after they walked for another corridor, going nowhere.  
  
"Um, excuse me, miss, but where, exactly, are we going?" She stopped, then, and pulled open a shabby looking door, trying to usher him in.  
  
"Here. This is where we are going." Trunks peered in the darkness with his Saiyajin eyes.  
  
"But that's a closet-"  
  
"Just get in!" she commanded harshly, sounding dry and callous. Why was everyone so pushy? Did they get a kick out of bossing around someone like him?  
  
"Alright, alright. Don't have a conniption or anything, geez." Cautiously, he slid into the tiny storage room, forcing his breathing to remain normal. Why did he have this feeling that this wasn't such a good idea? She shut the door behind her and pressed herself against him, sending him against the wall.  
  
Yep, this was definitely not a good idea!  
  
"Now-" Suddenly, light erupted through the once again open entrance, and both Pan and Gokou stood there, glares on their faces.  
  
"Hold it right there, lady! You're not going to touch him!" Trunks watched as a cruel smirk slipped onto the female nurse's lips.  
  
"Just try and stop me, you brat!" And with quickness, the woman's fingers dug into his scalp and pulled his face close to hers, instantly touching their lips together.  
  
A/N: MWAHAHAHA! I love doing that! Oh, well, it isn't like you won't know what I'm going to do, right? Chapter Six will be up ASAP! 


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: I'm really tired of putting this up here, but- I don't own any of these characters. Too bad; I love Goten and Trunks to death!!  
  
Author's Note: ~takes a bow~ Thank you, thank you! All of my readers are just great, giving me encouragement to finish this, or try to at least. I hope I won't disappoint any of you, and there is also one thing I have to add. I have not seen GT, I've only read about it, including bios of the episodes. So, please bear with me in knowing that what I'm writing is completely off the top of my head and memory, and not from the actual show. This is what I want to happen, and in my opinion, how it should have happened!! Alright, on with the chapter! R&R!!  
  
Chapter Six  
  
~*Trunks's point of view*~  
  
Aww, Shimatta! How in the name of Kami-sama had I gotten myself into this mess? First of all, I had this strange woman, who happened to be a nurse, trying to wedge her tongue down my throat, and second, I was beginning to get light-headed, almost dizzy as if I had just downed thirty shots of any type of alcohol. It wasn't very pleasant, and somewhere, my mind was telling me that I had felt this before, but-  
  
Oh, Damn-  
  
Damn, Damn, Damn, and more Damn! If I didn't get this "thing" off of me, I knew there was going to be trouble; it was more than I had bargained for!  
  
I kicked upward, succeeding in paralyzing the 'woman's' weak body, and quickly shoved her away, using both of my hands as a balance. Although I was overjoyed at having her off of me, I wasn't able to celebrate because as soon as my mouth sucked in freshly stale closet air, I fell, smacking my head extremely hard onto the ground. I was vaguely aware of how much it hurt, and what was happening around me.  
  
"Trunks! Trunks, are you okay?"  
  
Pan?  
  
Who was that?  
  
Kami-sama, I felt terrible. Why couldn't I comprehend anything? As a matter of fact, why couldn't I move my body? It felt as if something was controlling me, forcing me to stay this way. If I'd had any common sense left, I probably would have realized what had happened, but with my thoughts in a muddle as they were, I could do nothing but stare at the strange blurring figures of my friends. Something, a hand, touched my neck, probably feeling for a pulse, and when I tried to speak, my teeth clamped tightly over the tip of my tongue of its own accord, biting hard enough to draw blood. I wanted to scream, moan, do something that would give them warning, but it only came out gurgled, and I knew that this wasn't going to be pretty.  
  
Words, jumbled and partially there, hit my ears, but I couldn't respond. So much for being strong.  
  
"-wrong with him?" That was Pan; I wasn't that induced to ignore the high-pitched voice of the only female that had accompanied us on our trip.  
  
"-know. That nurse's pulse is faint, too." Kami, if I could only get up. What the hell was wrong with me?!!  
  
"-kicked pretty hard. What should we do, Ojisan?"  
  
GET ME OUTTA HERE!!  
  
Had they heard?! Obviously not because I heard footsteps retreating, and the echo of my earlier plea still ringing in my head. Where was help when I needed it? Where was Goten when I needed him? A voice, very low and breathy whispered something to me, and by the time I had figured out what it had said, I was unconscious, floating in the memories of my past and screaming out for the only one who would've helped me.  
  
"CHIBI!!"  
  
~Son Residence~  
  
~*Goten's Point of View*~  
  
"CHIBI!!"  
  
I flipped over and onto the floor, jerking quickly from a light and unrestful sleep as my nickname burst my eardrums and had them buzzing with a voice I didn't immediately recognize.  
  
What in the- Oh, Kami-sama! That wasn't who I thought it was, was it? Scrambling up, I fled down the steps, slightly rocking the picture frames on the wall back and forth. Gohan and Videl, who were sitting on the living room couch, looked strangely at me before my sibling decided to tease me about my appearance.  
  
"Don't tell me. You've started training with Vegeta, right?" I would have shot back with an equally sarcastic remark had I the time to actually think of one, but in a panic, I blindly ran by them and out the door, shortly after picking up on what Videl had said to my brother.  
  
"I'm starting to worry about him, Gohan. He's been acting really strange." There was a sigh.  
  
"You're telling me. I think he just misses Trunks, Videl."  
  
"Oh, is that all?"  
  
Yeah, that's all, my dear sister-in-law- if you counted your best friend mentally screaming for your help because he was in some sort of trouble and you hadn't even seen or heard from him in almost a year. Sure, that's just all of it!  
  
Grinding my teeth, I flew as fast as I could without relinquishing my hold on my normal stage, pretty much on the verge of going Super Saiyajin, although I hadn't done so in quite a long time, and rushed blindly towards the direction the voice had come from. Why did I have this feeling that my life was about to take a turn for the worse?  
  
~Miles Away; Hospital Room~  
  
"This isn't good, Ojisan! What happened to Trunks? Why won't he wake up?!" Pan paced at the foot of Trunks's bed, glancing every so often at the pale half Saiyajin in hopes that he would sit up and just pretend to be injured, but that wasn't happening and it was just making her more edgy. The nurse who'd attacked him hadn't woken up either, and without some of their questions answered, they were as much in dark as the next person. Gokou sat in a chair, carefully balancing himself on the back two legs, and was staring at the ceiling, trying to think.  
  
"Calm down, Pan. We're just going to have to be patient and wait. It won't help that you're wearing the floor thin." The nervous girl looked down and noticed the tread marks, her cheeks turning slightly pink in embarrassment as she did so, and finally gave up, parking herself on the corner of the hospital bed's mattress where Trunks lay unmoving and unnaturally white compared to the usual darkness of his tanned skin. She bit her lip and fidgeted with the chain hanging from her waist, eyes frantically looking around the room to keep herself occupied.  
  
"Pan?"  
  
"What?" she snapped, forcing the scowl from her face. Her grandfather could really push someone's endurance, and hers was already paper-thin.  
  
"Um-" At that moment, the bed creaked and they both turned their heads, watching with ever widening eyes as Trunks slowly sat up, blinking clouded blue eyes to regain his vision. There was something disturbing about the half smirk on his mouth as he lifted his face, and Pan jerked back, moving with inhuman speed to stand beside Gokou, her fists balled and ready to defend or attack, which ever came first.  
  
"Ojisan-" Gokou glanced over him with an easy assessment, and put his arm out in front of Pan, getting her attention.  
  
"Go and get the others, Pan! We have a situation on our hands." Trunks stumbled from the bed, unable to hold himself up on his two wobbling legs, as Pan tried to protest.  
  
"B-but Ojisan-" Gokou glared at her, sending a chill down her spine.  
  
"GO NOW!" he shouted, his hair wavering with the increase of his ki. Swallowing harshly, she raced out of the room, not looking back, as she headed for the spaceship, preparing to travel the distance to Capsule Corporation as quickly as possible as her grandfather protected the innocent people that might have gotten hurt. What was wrong with Trunks, anyway?  
  
Gokou watched Pan leave and then turned to face the staggering demi Saiyajin, who was still having trouble controlling the movements of his body, and summoned some of his energy up, prepared to fight if the necessity arose. He wasn't as stupid as others thought him to be, and this was something that could not go unlooked. Trunks was in danger, as he had been years before, and this time, his youngest son wasn't here to help protect him. What was he supposed to do? Kill him?  
  
Was he strong enough for that? He prayed to the gods that he was, knowing that the predecessor now inhabiting the younger Saiyajin's body could increase the inhabitee's power by ten fold, maybe more, which might have been enough to undo him in this young body. He tightened his fist, bringing it close to his body, and pointed his finger at the heavily breathing person, anger filling his senses.  
  
"I know who you are; there's no use hiding who you truly are, anymore," Gokou announced, not sounding the least bit happy. The thing that was no longer Trunks lifted his head, smirking in a graciously evil manner, and turned his head sideways, snapping the bones easily until they cracked, and he rolled his shoulders, getting a feel for the body's strength and movement.  
  
"Well, then I suppose that I need not tell you what I'm going to do to you, Son Gokou-" And with a devastating laugh, he launched an attack, preparing to take the elder Saiyajin down before he could take action.  
  
A/N: I suppose, now, that the mystery was somewhat revealed, that everyone wants me to continue? Alright, alright, don't hassle me. I'll get to it in good time, and we will have most of the following in the next chapter- a slightly disturbing out-of-body experience for our poor blue-eyed bishounen, a huge fighting scene between "Trunks" and Gokou, and an even more surprised awakening for Goten, who's making his way to the scene, even as I type this. When are Goten and Trunks going to live a somewhat normal life? Together?  
  
Not until I want them to!  
  
Aren't I just evil? ^_^ 


	7. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: Really, now! Who doesn't know that I don't own these characters?  
  
Author's Note: As promised, here is the next part. Please, as I've asked thousands of other times, bear with me on this. Coming up with these chapters takes a lot out of me, especially when I write them as fast as I do to please all of my readers and not leave them hanging in the dark. I can't believe that this is already up to seven parts! Oh, well, I'm getting ready to set the scene for some more interesting and "heated" things going on between both of our beloved bishounens, which will most likely occur in Chapter Eight or Nine. R&R!  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
~Alternate Plane of Existence~  
  
He slowly opened his eyes, his head throbbing as though his father had pounded him into next week, and he found himself in dark surroundings, with his cheek pressed flat to the cold, sour-smelling ground. Groaning, he tried to sit, finding that his body easily complied with that of his will, and when he pulled himself up, he wrapped his arms around his knees, shivering at the depth of which the depressing iciness of his environment ate at his soul. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wore khaki shorts or that the long-sleeved jacket and sweater could keep him warm; he felt the bitterness of the place he was in; he felt the loneliness and knew what it truly was to be abandoned.  
  
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to picture something else that would make him forget the agony of being over taken, for the third time and sent to this Hell that nipped at his heart, slowly tearing it to pieces. Nothing would come; he couldn't even muster a single thought except for the one concerning his predicament, and he would have laughed, if the tears hadn't started flowing down his cheeks. All he had ever wanted was to go home, be with his family and his friends, but now he was here, alone, and possibly going crazy with grief. He sobbed a couple of times, pressing his mouth against his arms to muffle the sound because even though he cried, his pride still got the best of him. He felt small, childish, and there was no way to shake the feeling.  
  
"Where are you?!" he shouted to the abyss of the sky as more tears slid down his face, soaking the material of his clothing. "Chibi, I need you!" Only the heartbreaking sound of his own voice answered him.  
  
~Chikyuu; Hospital Room~  
  
Gokou dodged the fist that aimed for his head, but was caught off guard and thrown into the concrete wall of the room with a kick to the abdomen, easily breaking it and going straight into the hallway. He skidded to a halt but quickly flipped to his feet, going back in for the offensive. The thing that was not Trunks smiled heartily before spin kicking him in the jaw and throwing him, this time, through the window to the outside. Pieces of the shattered glass cut into his flesh, bringing about small wells of blood, but he bit down and took the pain, letting it further enrage him, causing power to cascade around him. As long as his tail wasn't any danger from being pulled, he could sustain as much damage as possible so as to keep him occupied to allow Pan enough time to get Vegeta, Gohan, and Goten. It was their only chance to beat this thing without causing a lot of unnecessary damage; the wall and the window had been careless mistakes; he would not let it happen again.  
  
"You're a fool if you think you can beat me that easily," he whispered to himself, gathering enough ki to send him pushing through the barrier of Super Saiyajin. It had taken him some time to 're-learn' that technique and it had yet to fail him, so far. Hopefully, it wouldn't give out on him, now that he really needed it.  
  
"Did you say something?" Trunks's monotonous voice questioned from behind him, and when he turned, he received an energy-increased punch to the nose, which sent blood running from it and over his lips. Gokou snarled and kicked upward, catching the man in the underside of the jaw. His head twisted oddly backwards, but he quickly righted himself and threw ki at him, a blast large enough to destroy the hospital behind them.  
  
"NO!" Gokou caught the beam, his hands burning beneath its intensity, and forced his mind to break it into a smaller form that was sent flying every which way from the building, saving it from certain destruction. He needed to end this, before someone other than himself got hurt. "Why don't you give it up? You know you can't defeat me! I'm a lot stronger than Trunks's body!" A strange smile befell the half Saiyajin's lips.  
  
"Think what you want, but I know this body better than my own, although it's been quite some time since I've tasted raw Saiyajin power. Tell me, Son Gokou, do I make you tremble with fear, now that I've returned to complete what I started years ago?" Gokou withheld the surprise washing over him by spitting on the ground and breaking eye contact. He'd suspected who it might have been, but he had been positive that Goten had finished him. Obviously, he was wrong.  
  
"Bebi," he growled, hatred welling up within him as he glared at Trunks's face which was not his own, not anymore. He mocked a bow and swept hair from his eyes.  
  
"I thank you for finally realizing who I am! Now, to finish you and move on to more important subjects!" Phasing out, Gokou watched in horror, almost as if in slow motion, as Bebi-Trunks descended upon him, his hand outstretched to grip and it crushed through the superior Saiyajin's ki shield, sending him head long into unconsciousness. His mind screamed to continue fighting, but he felt his will closing to him, and he felt helpless to the world. How could he have been taken out this easily? Was Bebi really that strong, but more importantly, would his granddaughter reach the others in time?  
  
He prayed to Kami and Dende both that she would.  
  
~Same Dimension; CC Spaceship~  
  
"Come on, you baka! Go faster! Go faster! Go faster!" Pan angrily hit the control panel with her fist, and sparks flew up into her face, making her cry out in surprise and frustration. Red emergency lights immediately began to blink and the mechanical voice of the computer erupted through the speakers.  
  
'Warning, system malfunction! Please land spacecraft before other incidents occur! I repeat: system malfunction! Please land spacecraft before other incidents occur!' Pan completely smashed her fist through the board, sending electrical energy sizzling around the front of the ship.  
  
"Great, this is all I need! You stupid, stupid machine!" She grabbed the steering wheel and spun it hard, wanting to get out of it as soon as possible so she could continue on her own. Once outside, she leapt into the air, casting her ki around her and flying as fast as she could, hoping she'd reach someone in time before something happened to her Ojisan and Trunks. They were the best friend she'd ever had and something this trivial couldn't take that away, or so she thought-  
  
~*Goten's Point of View*~  
  
Fatigue was finally setting in as I sped along through the air, trying to reach Trunks, wherever he was, in enough time to save him. This must have been my fault. Who else's would have been? If I hadn't chickened out of the trip to search for the Black Star Dragon Balls, this never would have happened, I just knew it. Right then, my guilt was so heavy, it almost weighed me down, but the thought of something happening to Trunks, my best friend, the person that was possibly somewhat more to me than that, I soared on, going faster and faster.  
  
I don't know how long it was until I finally saw it coming towards me, but when I did, my heart stopped dead in its rhythm. My throat immediately went dry and I nearly choked on my joy of seeing the person in the distance. At first, it seemed a dream, almost like a mirage, but he came closer, relinquishing the space between us, and I stopped flying, hovering in anticipation and fear and excitement. I could hear the cell phone in my pocket, long since forgotten, going off, and I pulled it out, easily crushing it in trembling fingers. Nothing would ruin this moment, not even a girl that I cared less about, now that I thought about. It didn't even occur to me to think about why I had been racing this way in the first place; if I had, I would have known that something was, indeed, wrong.  
  
"Trunks!" I cried, frantically waving my arms above my head like a lunatic. I didn't care that I probably looked crazier than usual. I hadn't seen my friend in a very long time, and hundreds of buried emotions were welling up within my throat. I almost felt like choking on them, it was so intense. Inches away, he stopped, floating in the air with the wind blowing through his still short as ever lavender hair, and his blue eyes connected with mine, sending a chill down my spine. There was something different about the way he looked at me, but I couldn't place it.  
  
"Hey, man, long time no see!" Well, that was incredibly lame. A small, unusual, smile fell across his face, giving him the countenance of his father. I shivered inwardly. What was wrong with him?  
  
"Chibi," he said without enthusiasm, without much emotion. We hadn't seen each other in so long, and this was all he had to say?  
  
"Trunks, what's wrong with you?" He flashed his teeth at me in another blinding grin, and disappeared, quickly emerging next to me within arms reach. His hand reached up to skim a finger over my cheek and my heart leapt into my throat. What was he doing?  
  
"Nothing, Chibi. I've glad you're here. Now I can do something I've wanted to do since I first got here." Locking his arm around mine, he pulled me towards him, and willingly, I went, unable to protest or question his motives. This was Trunks, for crying-out-loud!  
  
When his lips meshed against mine, I froze, powerless to think, to comprehend, to move, and as the kiss deepened, I felt darkness welling up within my mind, and my fingers dug into his shoulder, trying to pull away. Whatever he was doing to me, it was making me dizzy, and it wasn't as if I didn't like the sensation because, honestly, I did, but this was getting too serious. I was kissing my best friend! His mouth tightened on mine, using his teeth to sink into the flesh of my lip to keep us connected, and I struggled harder, but still he would not let me go.  
  
At that point, I began to panic, and shoved against him, anxious to get away from him and talk, but coldness floated over my consciousness, and I slumped against the body of my friend, mumbling his name as his harsh laughter rang in my ears.  
  
A/N: NO!! Their first kiss stolen!!! Well, not exactly there first, but aren't I just the worst person imaginable?! Nawh! At least they'll be able to figure out what to do, together ~insert adolescent giggles here~ Anyway, please review, and the next chapter will be up as soon as I get to it, which probably won't be long, hehe ^_~  
  
(I hope this wasn't too awful. I wrote this at about 11:00 p.m. ~yawn~) 


	8. Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: Alright, I'm being gracious today. I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters.  
  
Author's Note: ~sigh~ Another chapter, more things going on between Goten and Trunks, Bebi and the rest of the world- Does it ever end? I suppose it will when I finish this story. R&R and most importantly, enjoy!  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
~Alternate Plane of Existence~  
  
~*Goten's Point of View*~  
  
"Chibi! Come on, Chibi, wake up!" Something had grabbed my shoulder and was shaking me roughly back and forth. No, I wanted to tell the voice, let me sleep. My head ached and my mouth tasted incredibly sour.  
  
"Wake up! Onegai!" Rolling over and groaning at the same time, I opened my eyes, forcing the room to stop spinning as I tried to look around. What in the name of Kami-sama had happened? I could vaguely remember the excitement I had felt as I had seen Trunks and then there had been that kiss, but after that-  
  
Absolutely nothing!  
  
"Leave me alone. I just want to be-"  
  
"Chibi, it's me! Man, aren't you glad to see me?!" What? Glad to see who? Turning my head, I blinked in surprise as features of startling lavender and blue washed over my senses. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Trunks was-  
  
"Who in the hell are you?!" I cried, leaping shakily to my feet where I almost fell flat on my face. Okay, so I couldn't take things too quickly at the moment. I still needed to get answers and I was not going to sit inches away from someone that happened to look like my best friend.  
  
"Chibi, it's me. Trunks." I shook my head, not wanting to believe. He was somewhere else, at least, I thought so.  
  
"No, you can't be Trunks. I distinctly remember passing out, and you were- "  
  
"That wasn't me. Chibi, you have to trust me on this. I would never lie to you." That voice was so full of pent-up emotions that I could feel tears pricking at my eyes. It really was him, and, and- Oh, Kami-sama!  
  
"Man, am I glad to-" I didn't know who moved first, but we both ended up hugging, our arms tightly locked around each other in a firm embrace. I could feel a tremor going through my body -or was it his?- and I squeezed my eyes shut, compelling the hot scorching of tears away. I wouldn't cry in front of him, no matter what happened between us. When he pulled away, he stared at me for quite some time, his beautiful blue eyes faded with memories, and suddenly, he reached up with his hand, touching my lip where it had been cut open.  
  
"So you were-" I rubbed over the spot where he had touched, feeling it tingle, and smiled broadly, knowing that it was almost identical to the one my father shared with the world.  
  
"Yeah, your father-"  
  
"Why?" This is how it had always been. We didn't have to finish our sentences to know what the other was trying to say, and I suppose it had always been like that, for as far back as I could recall. I placed my hand in the pocket of my jeans, restless under a gaze I had not felt in almost a year.  
  
"Well, I-I missed you, Trunks-kun, and it was the only thing I could think of that would make me forget about it, I guess." I swallowed harshly. I can't believe I just admitted that. I felt like passing out again, but Trunks shared nothing in my embarrassment because he began talking in fast phrases, almost sounding like I did when I rambled.  
  
"So did I. I mean, being up there, in space with just Pan and Gokou for nearly nine months drove me crazy. I didn't have anyone to actually talk to, if you know what I mean. Pan was always too busy screaming at either one of us to have a civil conversation, and Gokou-" He sighed, leaving me to wonder very little. I knew what my father was like, even though I hadn't really grown up with him around, and with Trunks the way he was, I could see that it was insane-driven.  
  
"So, what you're saying is-" He scowled and roughly shoved a hand through his hair.  
  
"Kami-dammit, Goten, I missed you, too! A lot!" He breathed harshly and I could feel my heart beating quite rapidly in my chest. Trunks had missed me? A lot? Why did I have this feeling that this was only the beginning of the things he had to tell me?  
  
"I-I, okay," I mumbled, blushing heated to the roots of my dark hair. I really couldn't think of anything else to say, and he must have picked up on my unease because he laughed, a sound that I longed to hear for Kami knew how long, and smiled broadly.  
  
"Please ignore that, Chibi. I'm already insane and- wait a minute! You're here!" I looked crossed-eyed at him; what was he talking about?  
  
"Yeah, o'course I am," I replied, scratching the back of my head in confusion. Was he going to be alright or was there something really wrong with him? With Trunks, it was difficult to tell.  
  
"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, you're here, with me, and that must-" He face paled considerably and placed his hands on my shoulders, shaking me hard enough to rattle my teeth. "Please don't tell me that Bebi got to you, too!"  
  
Bebi?  
  
It was my turn to blanch, and I gazed at him, my best friend whose eyes were frantically searching mine for the truth, anything to put his soul at rest. What did he mean by Bebi? He- oh, Kami-sama! That was why "Trunks" hadn't greeted me with any emotion, and why he had kissed me! He'd just wanted to take control of my body, like he'd promised to do long ago. I slowly sank to the ground, my hands covering my face in shame.  
  
"He was you?! All this time, Bebi was really you?!" I heard movement and a moment later, I felt his hand touching my arm, reassuring and comforting.  
  
"I didn't mean to let it happen, Chibi. I didn't know either. Do you forgive me?" It wasn't his fault, my mind screamed to me, it was mine, but I had to tell him something. Anything-  
  
"Kami, Trunks, it was an accident. We were both so- what are we going to do now?" He stared at me, almost through me, and sighed, wrapping his arms around his knees in a habit he'd possessed since childhood.  
  
"I don't know, Chibi. I really don't know." We sat together in the silence, neither feeling nor speaking, and I closed my eyes, afraid to know what was happening in the real world, afraid to know what "I" was doing without the knowledge of it.  
  
~Chikyuu; A few Miles from the Son Residence~  
  
Pan knew something was extremely wrong when she'd felt the increase in ki and then nothing only kilometers from where she was. Picking up her speed, she flew over the ground, which passed in a blur of green and brown, and headed for her house, which happened to be next door to her grandmother's. Before she had a chance to get there, she caught a glimpse of a figure up ahead that looked exactly like-  
  
"Goten! Hey, Uncle Goten, wait up!" He slowed and she caught up to him, smiling brightly. "Konnichi wa, long time no see," she cried happily, almost wanting to leap into his arms. She loved her uncle almost more than anyone in her family; he was just the coolest person to be around.  
  
"Oh, it's you." Pan looked at him in bewilderment. What was that supposed to mean? He didn't sound very happy to see her, not at all.  
  
"What's wrong, Uncle Goten? Did-" Faster than her eyes could see, Goten moved, backhanding her quickly in the face, making her vision blur. His foot caught the side of her jaw and sent her plummeting towards the trees below, blood welling up in her mouth. She didn't understand. Why was Goten being so mean and hitting her? He'd never, once in her entire life, lifted so much as a finger against her, even when they had sparred.  
  
"This should take care of you, you brat!" he called to her, lifting his hand and firing a ki blast large enough to put a dent in the ground. Pan opened her mouth, thinking to convince him not to hurt her, but all that came was a scream of agonizing pain and then nothing else.  
  
Within his vessel, Bebi smirked cruelly and forced the easily willing body around, flying towards the spot he felt several powers gathered. Most of them were weak, but one was particularly stronger than this body. What a shame; he'd thought that Son Goten would have been more powerful, but apparently he had been wrong. Bebi hated being wrong and he would prove to the world, once and for all, that he was not one to double-cross.  
  
A few minutes later, he landed in front of two domed houses, smoke coming from the chimney of the one on the left, and he laughed, walking up to the door. This was too easy. As his hand reached for the doorknob to throw it open, someone else did it for him, and he was staring at a face that he did not recognize, but knew instantly. It was Son Gohan, his body's older brother.  
  
This was absolutely perfect!  
  
"There you are, Goten! 'Kansan's been worried sick because you ran off without telling anyone where you were going! What are you smiling at?!"  
  
"Oh, nothing. Tell me, Gohan, will you spar with me?" His eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed behind his glasses. Those were absolutely ridiculous.  
  
"Goten, you know I don't do that anymore. What's gotten into you?" A grin edged its way onto his face as a woman, her hair long and pulled back in a braid, appeared next to Gohan, eyes shining.  
  
"Are you feeling better, Goten? Does-" She was quickly smacked in the face, and Gohan caught her as she staggered, redness swelling up her cheek.  
  
"Be quiet! I don't need to hear a word from you." The older half Saiyajin's eyes burned with rage.  
  
"What was that for, Goten?! Why'd you hit Videl?" Bebi-Goten took a step back, his hand raising up as an invite.  
  
"Come, brother. Fight me!" Looking at Videl, his wife's eyes blurred with unspilt tears from the obvious pain inflicted upon her, he felt his ki surging and quickly pulled off his glasses, throwing them to the floor.  
  
"You want a fight, Goten?! Well, I'll give you a fight!" Using speed to his advantage, Gohan grappled with his sibling and they both went rolling into the yard, hands at each other's throats.  
  
A/N: Oh, no! What's going to happen now? Bebi is such a ~mumbles a bunch of curse words~ Well, all I can say, I hope Gohan can beat him or else we're all in trouble! ^o^ 


	9. Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, so don't think about suing.  
  
Author's Note: Alright, question to be answered. Should I start with the fight between an enraged Gohan and a deranged Goten or should I bring about the "romantic" stuff? Prepare to be amazed, at least, I hope so anyway. Give me a review and enjoy!  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
~Alternate Plane of Existence~  
  
~*Trunks's Point of View*~  
  
I sat huddled against a wall that I had accidentally found by walking in to, my thoughts scrambled and my knees hurting from squeezing them so tightly. I hadn't moved for the past few hours and I was beginning to receive a mild case of jet lag, although I wasn't even on a plane, because I had been sitting in the same position, thinking. A few feet from me, sprawled on his back with his face towards the misty sky, was Goten, his eyes closed but his mind obviously at work. He had a serious look on his handsome visage, his nose slightly wrinkled at the end, and I sighed thickly, turning my thoughts away from him. I had confessed that I had missed him, and even though it felt as if an extremely heavy weight had been lifted from my chest, I still hadn't told him the whole truth. How could I, knowing that he would shun me for believing in something we had both been raised to hate?  
  
I loved him.  
  
Good Kami-sama, I was in love my best friend, someone with the same interests, a clean soul, and an understanding heart. But if he ever found out the truth, he wouldn't be understanding then. We'd probably never talk to each other again, and that, I could not live without; he completed me, if that added any sense to things.  
  
"Hey, Trunks-kun, what are you thinking about?" I jumped at his words, my voice coming out shaky and not sounding like myself.  
  
"Nothing." Well, there was a lie, and an exceedingly big one to boot. I felt like turning around and hitting my head as hard as I could against the rocky surface behind me, just so I could forget everything. Bebi had ruined both of our lives, and there was nothing we could do about it! Or was there?  
  
"Chibi, I've got a question." In the dimness, I watched as he sat up, rubbing a hand through dark locks that I longed to touch, and faced me.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you know why we're here? In this place?" I could tell that he wanted to shrug his shoulders, but he refrained.  
  
"I've been trying to figure that out. Do you think there's a way to get outta here? I really don't want to be-"  
  
"Me either." Standing, I dusted my clothes off, and walked in a circle, pacing. "But it just doesn't make any sense, though. Why would we end up here instead of somewhere else? It's just really-"  
  
"Eerie." I nodded, continuing my circular path. It wasn't getting me anywhere, but it made me feel better. If anyone, especially my father, found out that going in circles comforted me they would think me truly crazy and he would call me a failure to the Saiyajin elite, unfit to be Prince of Vegetaseii if it hadn't been destroyed more than half a century ago. I was a disappointment to everyone I knew; everyone, that is, except for the person sitting inches from me, a grim expression on his usually happy face.  
  
"Maybe we ended up here for a reason, but I just don't know what it would be."  
  
"What if this is part of Bebi's spirit? Do you think-" I could have -and would have- kissed him had I been close enough. Goten was smarter than people gave him credit for. I must have stopped dead in my tracks because he was beside me, his hands on my shoulders.  
  
"What is it? Are you hurt? Did-" Unable to help myself, I grabbed his head, digging my fingers into his scalp, and pulled him close, our faces so near that I could feel his breath against my cheek.  
  
"No. Chibi, I-" I hesitated, following the contour of his mouth with my eyes. I wanted so much to just give in to the desire consuming me, but of all things, I was completely terrified. Goten only stared, his breathing somewhat erratic and I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking, to make sure that this is what he wanted as well. I didn't have the courage to ask, knowing my voice would fail me. He pressed his lips together, and then spoke, sending a tremor through me.  
  
"Then kiss me, Trunks-kun, if that's what you want." My heart stopped. What was I going to do now? (A/N: Aren't I just evil? ^_^)  
  
~Son Residence~  
  
"You take that back, Goten, right now, or I'll-"  
  
"Then do it, Gohan, or are you afraid that I'll defeat you?" Bebi was enjoying this squirmish, almost as much as taking control of the wretch that had sent him to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in search of a new host, but he was growing weary of this. The Saiyajin scum before him did not want to fight, he could see it in his eyes and the way he held himself back. Was he afraid of losing to him? Or was he afraid of hurting his brother?  
  
The world would never know, but Bebi would, he'd make sure of that. The opportunity to control him would present itself as soon as he landed a hit on him, making him bleed. That was the key, and besides, there was absolutely no way for him to get in close enough to exchange bodies through contact of the mouth; his stubborn opponent wouldn't allow that. His eyes caught movement behind them and he scowled, lifting his hand to rid himself of the pesky annoyance.  
  
"Be gone, you foolish woman!" Ki flooded the pathway between him and Gohan's wife, and the ever-present smirk appeared on his face once again. Gohan leapt forward, flying at an inhuman speed to reach her, and powering up, quickly knocked it away. He landed beside Videl, whose eyes were twice as wide, and watched as she sank to the ground.  
  
"Oh-"  
  
"Videl, are you alright?" And to his brother, "Shimatta, Goten, you baka! What are you trying to do?!"  
  
"Isn't it obvious, yet? I'm trying to kill her." Both of their faces grew considerably pale, and Videl grabbed at Gohan's hand, pulling herself up.  
  
"Gohan, that-that's not your brother."  
  
"Gee, what made you think that, Videl? The fact that he's walking around with an ego as big as this house or the fact that he just tried to destroy you?!" Goten's laughter rang out, bringing them both to a halt.  
  
"You mortals are so easy to manipulate, sometimes I wonder why I even bother. What makes you so different from any of the other species in this universe?"  
  
"Mortals? Goten, what are you talking about?" He lifted a finger, pointing at him, and grinned maliciously.  
  
"Ah, yes, it's your ignorance. Look how easily the blood flows and you do not realize it." Immediately, Gohan could feel the slight trickle of liquid against the lower part of his cheek and he touched his fingers to it, pulling away with red-stained tips. He gritted his teeth in frustration.  
  
"Goten, if you don't explain yourself-" A heavy wind suddenly whipped around them, making his hair lash into his unprotected eyes and he shielded them with his arm, keeping a steady hand on Videl so that he would not lose her, but he could no longer see Goten. Where had he gone?  
  
"Gohan, what's doing this?! Why can't I open my-" She was cut off by a blood-curdling scream that fell from his lips, paralyzing his mind with fear. What was going on? Why couldn't he comprehend such a simple thing?  
  
'Welcome to the end,' a strange, unearthly voice whispered in his ear and then everything went dark.  
  
A/N: Well, I suppose Gohan wasn't able to stand up against Bebi. Holy damn, we've got a major situation on our hands, and I'm guessing you all know who's going to be next ~cough~ Vegeta ~cough~ Also, wanting to warn my readers early- the next chapter is going to be yaoi, which, as you all know, means guy/guy ~cough~ well, you get the picture. I won't be sensitive writing this, although I'm going to strain to get it just right! Cross your fingers for me!  
  
Reader's Note: Should I write the next chapter from Goten's point of view, or Trunks's? Or neither? Let me know, I'll happily oblige the first person who gives me the first review with this mentioning in it! 


	10. Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: ~rolls eyes~ I hate these things! I don't own DBZ or anything else that relates to it!  
  
Warning: This chapter contains scenes of, somewhat, descriptive sex that involves two males. If you are too queasy or feel uneasy reading these types of situations, skip them.  
  
Author's Note: I suppose I don't need to explain further what this chapter is about, but please, do not flame me! This is my "first" attempt at making something like this readable for people other than myself! Hopefully, this won't turn out too bad ~winces~ This is also told from both points of view. I couldn't decide which one, so I used both. R&R!  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
~*Goten's Point of View*~  
  
"Then kiss me, Trunks-kun, if that's what you want."  
  
My heart pounded through my chest. Had I actually just said that? Apparently I had because Trunks's fingers were fisting in my mane of black, tighter than before, and he pulled me forward, the tips of our noses touching. The anticipation of this moment was driving me crazy, and I was beginning to doubt my first thought that this was what he had wanted. Was he only doing this to prove how sick-minded I was, or did he truly- Gathering my courage, I took the finally step, lifting my head with a slight tilt and connected our lips, sending both of our senses spinning.  
  
I could feel the heat from his mouth pouring into my skin, burning a trail of hot sensation through my body, and my hands lifted up, clasping his waist even as his stiffened in my hair. I felt the momentary pause of hesitation and then his tongue swept across my lips, begging for entrance, and I could do nothing but oblige him. As soon as his touched mine, only briefly, I felt a shock wash over me, almost similar to that of going Super Saiyajin, and I moaned unintelligibly, gripping his hips so hard that my knuckles turned white, even as my tongue twined with his. He slid his hands down the sides of my face, cupping it in between them, and increased the intensity of the kiss, using skill much greater than my own to have me clinging to him as if he were a life line.  
  
This was what I had dreamt of, ever since he'd left, and good Kami-sama, it was more than I could handle. He was going to burn me alive, but it felt good just the same.  
  
Slowly, he pulled away, his eyes opening to reveal orbs of liquid violet. I didn't even know that they could become such a color, and a smile touched his lips even as he ran his tongue over them, savoring, and I trembled. Did he like doing this to me?  
  
"Trunks-" His fingers touched my mouth, silencing me despite my plea, and his breath tickled the sensitive part of my neck as he came closer, his silky hair caressing the underside of my throat. His teeth nipped, not too hard but with enough force to have my knees shaking, and fearful that I would fall, I clutched at him, slanting my head back slightly to give him better access and he pillaged, setting fire to my wits.  
  
I bit my lip, refusing to cry out at the feelings, some old and most fresh to my clouded mind, he created, partially wondering if he was knowing the same thing. Did I please him enough? Prepared to not let him get the better of me, I roughly forced him back, grinning benevolently even as my hands reached up and ripped the scarf tied loosely around his neck in half, sending it to the ground.  
  
~*Trunks's Point of View*~  
  
My bandana fluttered to our feet, making me swallow intensely and I only stare at him, Goten, my knowingly soon-to-be lover. Although I had never actually done this before, I had fantasized about it, doing things hardly imaginable to my best friend with him crying out my name in such a way that the thought alone had me ready, but he was taking a new turn, unwilling to let me do all of it, as I had hoped. My nerves were already thin, and as he stared at me with dark eyes of pure black, mischievous thoughts running rampant through them, I could feel them tearing into pieces. I didn't know if I could hold out for any more foreplay; we had been going at it for nearly thirty years already, even if we hadn't realized it.  
  
"Chibi, you're going to-" Before I could even finish what I had to say, he kissed me softly, almost teasingly, letting his tongue and his teeth lightly caress the inside of my mouth as his hands slid under the edges of my jacket, easily sliding it over my shoulders and to the floor. As I whimpered for him to stop torturing me and get whatever it was he was planning over with, his nimble fingers slipped under my shirt, tormenting my skin with delicate strokes that had my muscles in a knot. His hands radiated warmth I had never felt before, and I just felt like melting into a blissful puddle of longing. He broke the kiss, but his hands remained, driving me crazy.  
  
"Stop worrying so much," he murmured in an exceedingly thick voice. "We'll go slow." I shook my head, blinded by the situation.  
  
"No, that's not what I want, Chibi," I replied, gliding my own fingers down his arms to join with his beneath my sweater. His confusion pleased me and I smiled, stepping close enough so that our hips rubbed together.  
  
"But, I-"  
  
"I want you right now!" Even as I said those words, I could feel him reacting, and while his hands quickly grabbed at the barriers on my body that lay between us, mine fumbled with his, trying to get them off as quickly as possible without tearing them any more than necessary. The sexual tension was so great that when he pulled and I tugged, we both went sprawling backwards onto the ground, our minds unable to think clearly, but it would not hinder us. We laughed together, crawling towards each other with reserved speed, and met halfway, our mouths joining even as the amusement died down and we continued what we were doing, only more slowly and with greater care.  
  
He drew me to my feet, my will power almost gone even as we separated so that I could drag my shirt over my head. Not insensible, one way or the other, I threw it behind me, taking no notice as to where it had went. Adding to that disappearing pile of clothing, my gloves, I reached for the buckle of my belt, thinking to take it off when I felt a hand hindering my actions. I looked up, Goten's face dark within the shadows of the realm we inhabited, as he slowly sank to his knees in front of me as his fingers reached forward. I swallowed harshly, my heart picking up in its rhythm. I think I had finally lost my nerve because, as far as I could tell, he wasn't wearing anything other than his boxers. How had he managed that task so quickly?  
  
I had the unknowing feeling that I was about to find out.  
  
~*Goten's Point of View*~  
  
Sheer guessing alone told me that Trunks was losing a battle between what he wanted to happen and what he thought was right, and I couldn't let him back down when we were so close to coming together. Kami, I nearly tasted the excitement in my mouth at the prospect, and if I knew anything about my best friend, he wanted it as well. I supposed living with the parents he had made him wary of his feelings. I wanted to change that and I would try my damnedest to make it happen.  
  
I unfastened his belt, pulling it through the loops of his khakis and tossing it over my shoulder. Hmm, that might make for an interesting toy later, but not right now. I wanted just him and me, nothing else. Working quickly with the button and zipper, I discarded him of his pants, leaving him facing me in boxers suitable for his personality. They were black and almost as silky as his hair, but that wasn't what had me grinning wider than before. His erection lay tight against the material, stretching it almost painfully, and I felt myself hardening even as I stared at him before slipping my hand underneath the elastic band and enclosing his member in my hand.  
  
The cry that fell from his lips encouraged me and I tugged his boxers down, freeing him from its confines, and mouth open, I engulfed his thickness, throating as much as possible. A pleasing moan erupted from his body, sending a tremor through me even as I began to move my head back and forth, creating a suction tight enough to have Trunks bury his fingers in my hair while his hips bucked forward. I nearly choked, sending an unfamiliar vibration through both of us, but I pulled back quick enough to make it seem as though I had planned it and used my tongue to work the underside and head of his cock. Trunks was on the verge of release, I could feel it, and bringing my hand down from the position on his hip, I massaged his balls lightly, only once before his entire body stiffened and he came, ejaculating hot semen partially down my throat as he screamed out my name. I swallowed as much as I could manage and slowly brought his half- hardened member from my mouth, turning him around with ease.  
  
He was in such a state of shocked pleasure that he readily did as I prompted, and before his legs could give out, I brought him to his knees. The erection I had sustained from keeping my lover in this game was so painful, I almost came when he reared back, knowing what was to come next, and although knowing it would cause some pain for him, I steadied his hips, positioned myself, and entered him in one hard thrust, causing a groan to come from both of us.  
  
~*Trunks's Point of View*~  
  
The pain was fleeting, though unbearable as he stretched me, but I didn't care. This was Goten, the gentlest person I knew and if he had caused me some physical discomfort, it was most likely an accident or a by- product of his need. His hardness was evidence of that, and I could feel him in me, solid and deep and real. Oh, Kami, everything was real, and if he didn't start doing something, I was going to be driven more insane than I already was.  
  
As if reading my thoughts, he began to move, sometimes painfully fast and other times agonizingly slow, but always with the same precision and vigor, bringing his name from my throat each time he pulled back and then thrust in again. The pace was quickening, burning liquid fire through me as I felt him reaching his climax, and as his arms tightened around me, bringing me closer that one finally time, lights flashed before my closed eyes as he screamed out his release, swelling and breaking the flood deeply within me.  
  
We collapsed, sweaty and tangled, and-  
  
Together.  
  
After all of the harsh realties and worse case scenarios, we were finally together, even if it were for only a short time. I sighed, not wanting to move and listened to his breathing, as I stared up at the dark sky, smiling happily to myself.  
  
A/N: ~hands over face~ Is it over? Well, I suppose it is, or this chapter at least. How was that? Please, be nice and don't flame me, I can't take the humiliation. I struggled through this part to make it worth reading. Leave me a review and ~cracks whip~ I didn't know Goten had it in him to be the dominant one ^_~  
  
So much for them trying to find a way out ^.^ 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: Agitation has finally set in. I don't own DBZ. If you haven't figured that out by now, then you need help.  
  
Warning: More fun with our favorite peeps! If you don't like it, don't read it.  
  
Author's Note: Now that everything is all said and done, I'm supposing everyone wants me to finish off Bebi so Goten and Trunks can live a "normal" life, be hassled by their families for their sexual preferences, and try to figure out what they're going to do later on. All in good time, all in good time. For now, let's just see what's going to happen from here on out. We still haven't heard those 3 specific words come from either bishounen yet- R&R!  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
~*Goten's Point of View*~  
  
There was a demanding silence afterwards that crushed my thoughts, and so I was content to laying on the ground, unmoving. Trunks hadn't moved either, and I was beginning to wonder if we had done the right thing. It felt right, Kami help me for saying that, but it was true. I had never felt more complete than I had in that last second before release and I had pulled him close to me. What, in my right mind, had made me do that, I didn't know, but strangely enough, I felt nearer to him than I ever had in my entire life. I guess that was one thing I had to thank Bebi for if we got out of this place.  
  
"Chibi?" Ah, so the voiceless bishounen speaks. I wonder what he wanted; maybe he wanted to-  
  
"Yeah?" Was that me? I sounded too tired to be anything but normal. Well, I guess that had been the consequences of making love with Trunks, maybe. Who knew?  
  
"Are you awake?" I almost started laughing, but chose to roll over onto my side and lean on my elbow, facing his back, instead.  
  
"No, I think I'm dead," I replied, earning an easily won chuckle from my lover before he, too, turned to face me. His eyes were bright, no longer shadowed with hidden emotions, and I edged closer to him until we lay side-by-side, nose-to-nose. My hand touched his face, caressing the skin of his angular jaw, and then slid to his lips, playing with them lightly. Kami, how I could get used to this.  
  
"Goten, I-I love you." My body quickly went rigid as those words fell out of his mouth, and I pulled back, as if I had just been bitten. Where had that come from?  
  
"W-what? What did you say?" If I hadn't been awake then, I was a hell of a lot more now. Did I just hear what he said correctly or had I only been deluding myself into thinking that he had?  
  
"I said that I-I loved you." A strange new feeling washed over me and I smiled, rubbing a hand through my hair even as a blush rose to my cheeks.  
  
"Oh." Damn it, Goten, that's not what you're supposed to say, but as the truth was, that was the only thing I could manage. My tongue was twisted into so many knots that it was a miracle I'd made a sound at all. Trunks immediately sat up, his eyes scanning for the clothes that he lost even as his face burnt an unimaginable shade of crimson and he lowered his eyes away from my gaze.  
  
"Gomen, Chibi. I shouldn't have said that. It was-" His apology instantly kicked my brain into gear. I reached out and pulled him back, so that he landed on top of me. This was a rather strange turn of events, although it made for some even more passionate suggestions. I looked up at him, a hand pulling his face close to mine. I think he was in too much shock to do anything but obey; either that or he knew what was coming.  
  
"Don't apologize. I-" Oh, Kami, here it came. "I love you, too. I have for a really long-" His lips were pressed to mine faster than I could comprehend, but it was a slow, still full of enthusiasm kiss that sent my mind reeling and this time, I was the one who was numbed to the bone, unable to do anything but hold onto him. My hips thrusted upward into his, brushing his already forming erection, and I whimpered even as he tossed his head back, eyes shut tight and beads of sweat glazing his tanned skin.  
  
"Trunks, please-" He stared down at me then, his orbs of burning fire a shade lighter than that of his normal blue, and nodded before sliding himself lower on me, bringing another moan from my raw throat. I'd never been so sexually aroused before in my entire life and coming from me that was-  
  
Oh, Kami!  
  
"TRUNKS!"  
  
~*Trunks's Point of View*~  
  
A smile fell to my lips when Goten screamed my name, almost shattering my eardrums at the loudness of his voice, as I used my tongue to stroke the underside of his hardened cock. Serves you right, my friend. It was payback time and I was going to thoroughly enjoy the benefits of this. I wanted to see how much he liked being the one teased to such an extent that he would beg or do anything so that he could reach release. My thoughts briefly crossed the idea of using the belt Goten had taken off of me earlier, but I dismissed it, knowing that that was what he'd had in mind. Kinkier stuff later, just making love, teasing, body dominating love, right now.  
  
Another thought coming to me, I stopped what I was doing, earning a whimpered protest from Goten, and stood up, bringing him with me. Where was that wall? I know I hadn't strayed too far from it, and using that would definitely be an advantage for the both of us. Goten followed without thinking, unaware that he was to be subject to the deviously created "Trunks Sex Special." Well, it wasn't as designed as it sounded it, but it would get the job done, and I was really beginning to actually want to do this. I couldn't hold out much longer; my will power only pushed so far.  
  
Walking just a bit further, my hand brushed the rock barrier, and I tugged Goten's hand, pushing him against it even as I began preparing him with my fingers. I guess he'd figured out what I had been planning because his pleas were now undertoned sobs of "Trunks," "Please," and "Oh, Kami, hurry." As I positioned myself to fill him, guilt flooded me. How could I abuse my friend this way and keep him from reaching fulfillment? In fact, now that I really thought about it, where had the thought to do that come from in the first place? I wasn't cruel enough to do something so unconventional to my best friend, my newly found lover, and think to be rewarded for it later. I couldn't be-  
  
Hell, yes, I was being Saiyajin, and that part of me wanted something rough, something mind-numbing, something-  
  
Something else that I could not explain or even begin to grasp.  
  
Ignoring the urge to do as that side of me requested, I slammed into Goten, compensated with a cry of gratitude so overwhelming that it melted my heart, and my hand snaked around his waist, closing around his member in a tight grip. His hips bucked forward, dragging me with him, and I hissed in pleasure even as I began to move, forward with my body and backward with my hand, sandwiching Goten between the two. I felt something warm splashing my skin and I immediately knew it to be tears.  
  
Chibi?  
  
I would have slowed, had we both not been on the edge of release, to find out what was wrong, but my body was tensing, drawing closer to that pentacle of pleasure, and as I felt cum washing over my hand, pouring from him as he wept his climax, I erupted into a cataclysm of brilliant colors, digging my free fingers into the flesh of his hips to bring him driving backwards one last time. I said something, I wasn't sure what, but when we sank to the ground, sweat dripping from our bodies, he slowly eased himself from me and turned around, tears still streaking down his face.  
  
"Trunks, I love you. Good Kami-sama, do I ever." My hand reached up, brushing away the wetness from his cheeks. I raised up, kissing him gently on the mouth.  
  
"And I love you, Goten. Don't cry." His teeth sank into his lower lip, biting back the fresh wave of emotion that, I could tell, assaulted his senses. He flattened himself against me, bringing his arms up and around my head so that he could embrace me.  
  
"Gomen nasai, Trunks-kun. Are we-are we ever going to get out of this place?" I stroked his hair, wanting to soothe him, but I didn't know what to say that would put his soul at ease.  
  
"Yeah, Chibi, we will. I don't know how, but we will." Suddenly, he broke into fresh tears and gripped me tightly, and abruptly, I felt smaller than him.  
  
"But-but I don't want to. I just want to stay here- with you." My thoughts scrambled themselves for a moment but then I inhaled sharply, the real reason for my lover's upset revealed to me. Things could never go back to the way they were before, and our families-  
  
Our families might not accept us for being what we were, and that, as I knew, could tear us apart. My arms constricted around Goten, and we held each other, unable to let go.  
  
~Chikyuu; Son Residence~  
  
Bebi climbed to his feet, testing his ability within his newly acquired body, and blinked, clearing his vision with ease. What did this incredibly magnificent Saiyajin specimen need glasses for? He could see just fine without them, and besides, they were ridiculous to look at anyway. Grunting unintelligible, he glanced around, smiling maliciously at the scene. That bothersome woman was unconscious, face down on the ground, and his former inhabitant was lying, sprawled on his back, a few feet away, blood running from his lax mouth.  
  
So much for Son Goten, he thought, walking over to him and crushing his limp hand with a booted foot. Although his evil egg was still embedded deeply within him, he knew that this disciple would be difficult to maintain if he and that other brat found the way to re-control their bodies. Bebi supposed that he had been ignorant in sending both of their spirits to the same location, but perhaps they would be too stupid in realizing where they were. It all depended on him getting to his next target and taking him by surprise, and with Son Gohan's body as a vessel, it would be an easy task.  
  
Ignoring the protest of the half Saiyajin's soul still encompassed within the figure he now possessed, Bebi gathered the unused energy of his ki, and without glancing back, soared into the sky, preparing a strategy on controlling the most powerful being on the planet.  
  
Vegeta.  
  
A/N: ~sniffles~ Poor Truten, won't they ever get a break?! And what about Bebi? Somebody just needs to kill him! Give me some reviews and I'll post the next part ^_~ 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters. I wish people would realize that by now!  
  
Author's Note: As promised, another chapter, and more stuff going on with our one and only couple in this fic. I hope I'm keeping everyone up to speed, and I also hope that this puts a little bit of something back into someone's day. Let's see- there isn't any Truten action in this chapter, but it's still just as important, so- R&R!  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
~Dende's Lookout~  
  
The Guardian of Chikyuu gazed down upon his planet, a frown wearing on his green features. There was something incredibly disturbing going on, but he wasn't quite sure what it could have been. He'd been protector for a long time, in fact, he'd practically grown up on Chikyuu, but he still hadn't gotten used to detecting what specific dangers there were. Chikyuu was plagued with too many crimes for him to keep tabs on all of them -murder, theft, rape- and when it really counted, his mind was so clouded with everyday, petty Chikyuujin things that he was unable to concentrate properly. Perhaps it wouldn't have been a bad idea if he'd taken mental training from Piccolo after all; he sure needed it.  
  
"What's wrong, Dende? You've been standing there, staring out at the sky, for almost an hour." Mr. Popo, his trusted friend and only companion here in the Sky Palace, walked up beside him, a bland expression on his dark face. The Namek sighed and turned to face his shorter friend, his staff making a light tapping sound on the perfectly tiled floor as he sat it down.  
  
"I'm not sure. I sense something very evil here, on Chikyuu, but I can't tell what it is, exactly."  
  
"You're not trying hard enough, Dende," a gruff voice informed him from behind and they spun, taking in the familiar cape and turban of the one and only-  
  
"Piccolo-sama! It's so nice to see you again, old friend," Dende replied in a formal voice, bowing partially from the waist up. Piccolo's demeanor did not change, but the guardian and Mr. Popo could tell that he was getting agitated.  
  
"Enough with the formalities, Dende. Do you know what it is, yet?" The younger Namek turned a brilliant shade of violet and hung his head low.  
  
"I-uh-I don't really- no, not yet, Piccolo," he mumbled almost incoherently but as they all knew, a Namekjinn's hearing was exceptionally beyond perfect, and it was louder than he had actually spoken.  
  
"Well, while you've been up here, doing nothing, I've been keeping an eye on things, and I can't seem to find a single thing wrong other than the feeling that something's here. Have you picked up on Son Gokou's arrival?" Dende nodded, although still embarrassed, and stood straight.  
  
"Yes, I have. There was a strange entity with him, and aside from his granddaughter and Vegeta's son, I couldn't tell what it was." Piccolo snorted in response, turning his muscular bulk towards the edge of the Lookout. His arms were crossed and his eyes shut, trying to determine their next move. If Gokou had brought the evil creature they were sensing back with him from space, then there definitely had to be something going on. Perhaps if he could find him or Ubuu, the situation wouldn't be so horribly mystifying.  
  
"What about Ubuu? Do you know of his whereabouts? It would be to our advantage if we could find him. His psychic abilities would be useful."  
  
"G-gomen nasai, Piccolo-sama, but I do not know that either. He was only here briefly, when he and Gokou were on the Lookout, and when Gokou left Chikyuu, he disappeared. I haven't a clue as to where he could be." Piccolo forced his anger away and sighed deeply. It wasn't the young guardian's fault that he didn't know such things, he was still learning, even after almost a quarter of a century of protecting Chikyuu. Perhaps it was just the fused side of him that had been old Guardian of Chikyuu that was getting uneasy. There was something afoot on this soil, and not knowing what it was ate at his mind.  
  
"Very well. I wish to see to something, but I will be back as quickly as I can. Stay alert, Dende, and if you sense anything new, notify me as quickly as possible." Without another word, the elder Namek disappeared in a flash of white ki, leaving Dende and Mr. Popo alone. He sighed, taking up his position once again so that he could continue keeping watch. He began praying to the kaios that nothing too terribly wrong had happened or else they were all in for another battle, one Chikyuu hadn't experienced since the release of Majin Buu.  
  
~Capsule Corporation~  
  
"WOMAN!!" Vegeta's incessant "nickname" for his mate rang throughout the entire building, and Bra, choosing to ignore it, turned up the radio in her room, drowning out her father. If it wasn't one thing, it was always another.  
  
"Woman, I demand you tell me why-" An extremely annoyed Vegeta stomped into the kitchen, sweat dripping down the side of his neck and clinging to his arms as his fist tightened around the towel he held. He had obviously been training, and the fact that Bulma was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea as she spoke with Kakarotto's oldest brat, didn't hinder him from barging in, making a scene.  
  
"Vegeta, please, I'm trying to have a conversation with Gohan-san, if you don't mind." The blue haired woman swept her hair at him, making him beyond pissed.  
  
"I don't give a damn what you are doing, Woman! I demand you tell me why the Gravity Machine will not work! I was training and then suddenly it goes off! I order you to fix it!" Bulma's features twisted with anger and she turned from him, her nose held high and arms crossed in front of her chest.  
  
"Fix it yourself! I am not your slave, Vegeta!" The Saiyajin Prince's teeth ground, but it was not the woman's disobeying his command that made him more than angry; it was the fact that his old nemesis's son was staring directly at him, a grin on his pathetically serious face.  
  
"What are you looking at, brat? Does it look like this concerns you?" Within Gohan's body, Bebi forced his tension away, and pretended to unknowingly play the innocent.  
  
"No, Vegeta, it doesn't, but if Bulma won't fix the-" He had to think a moment to remember what the Prince had called the infernal mechanical object that the he was so found of. "Gravity Machine, then maybe I could take a look at it." Vegeta's demeanor immediately disappeared and Bebi felt joy bubbling up within him. Poor, unsuspecting fools; they had no idea just how much danger they would be in, once he had control of the Saiyajin no Ouji. This was all too easy.  
  
"Gohan, you know you don't have to do everything he says. He's already spoiled enough as it is," Bulma spoke up, trying to intervene with his plans and not really knowing it.  
  
"Oh, no, that's okay, Bulma-chan," he replied, plastering on a fake smile. "I don't mind." Standing up, Vegeta made an exaggerated smirk at his woman, revealing triumph, and stalked away, silently ordering Gohan to follow him, even though he should have known where it was. Back in the kitchen, Bulma sighed and sipped at her cooling tea.  
  
"I swear, they're like giant babies, but what can I say? Boys will always need their toys."  
  
~Approximately Ten Miles from Son Residence~  
  
Pan groaned as she lifted her head, her hand feeling her face to make sure nothing had dislodged itself. Her orangish-red bandana was still there, so it couldn't have been too terrible, but why did it feel like someone had continuously stepped on her with a semi? She rolled over onto her back, spiting dirt and blood from her mouth, and tried to get up, ignoring the pain flooding her body and the charred smell drifting from her skin. Her uncle had been completely merciless, first kicking her senseless and then frying her with a huge ki blast, but there was something she just didn't understand. Why had he even hurt her?  
  
Trying to clear her thoughts as she stumbled to her feet and used a small tree to support her weight, she contemplated on whether or not she should continue onward, asking for the assistance of her father and Vegeta -Goten was obviously out of the question- or if she should head back to where her grandfather was. Biting her limp in indecision, she took to the sky, her energy somewhat low and weakened, and headed for the bright aura of the only member of her family who hadn't failed her, as of yet. She just hoped she wasn't too late.  
  
~Miles Away; Hospital Grounds~  
  
"Oh, 'Kaasan, look at that! Isn't it pwetty?" a small boy of no more than three asked his mother as they walked by the hospital rest area, where a brown fuzzy tail happened to be sticking up through one of the bushes. He released her hand and sprinted over, his grimy little fingers trying to catch it as it swished back and forth, avoiding his grasp. The woman walked over, immediately grabbing his arms, and pulling him away.  
  
"You are not supposed to touch things on the property, sweetie. It's very-OHMYKAMI!" she screamed, instantly running away with her child clutched in her arms. A very drowsy and drunken looking Gokou, whose bottom lip was busted open and face was swelling, stood there, blinking in shock and surprise. Not catching on, he turned frantically in a circle, slanted eyes searching.  
  
"What? I don't see anything! Hey, lady, what's wrong?" He caught his reflection in the water of the small fountain beside him, and he frowned, touching his finger to his lip and wincing when he dug out a piece of glass that had come from the window he'd been thrown through head first. "Guess it musta been me."  
  
Stumbling just a bit, he flopped onto the ground, looking around as his tail curled around his lower arm, happy to see him awake. The fight between him and Bebi-Trunks had accidentally relocated several trees and pieces of the foundation were missing from the hospital. How was it that no one had sensed the vibrations of their energy clashes and had come to investigate? This was still eluding Gokou even as his granddaughter landed a few feet in front of him moments later, looking just as worse off as he did.  
  
"Well," she implied, glancing around. "Looks like you couldn't wait for me before you fought." Gokou grinned widely at her.  
  
"Gomen, Pan, but it looks like you had one of your own." Scowling, Pan walked to her grandfather, sitting down beside him and sighing.  
  
"Goten did this to me, Ojisan. I saw him flying up ahead, and when we stopped to talk, he beat me up, without so much as a word of why!" Gokou's brow wrinkled in concentration.  
  
"Goten?! He was the one that- it's just the same as Trunks!" Pan's face paled as she remembered the lavender haired bishounen.  
  
"Trunks? Whatdaya mean Trunks?" Gokou scratched the top of his head, recalling the incidents of hours past.  
  
"Well, we got into a fight because he wasn't being himself. He was being controlled by- was Goten acting really strange?" Pan sighed; he was hopeless, all the way around.  
  
"Hello? Chikyuu to Ojisan! Yes, he was acting strange! He pounded the hell out of me!" The Saiyajin ignored the fact that his granddaughter had just cussed, and he used one of his own, less favored but more insulting curse words.  
  
"Pan, we need to get to Dende's Lookout as quickly as possible! We might not have a lot of time!" Without out so much as a justification, Gokou leapt to his feet, igniting himself in ki before flying off. Muttering her reluctance, she followed, preparing to threaten an explanation out of her grandfather. She was in the dark and that was one of things she hated most. If something important was happening, she was going to be on top of the 'needs-to-know' list, no matter what the cost.  
  
A/N: ~curses self~ I know, I didn't have anything concerning Trunks or Goten in this chapter, but don't worry! This entire story is dedicated to them, and they're going to have more fun adventures in the next one. Read and review! 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, although it would be nice to claim it as mine.  
  
Author's Note: Another part up and ready to continue in this struggle between Bebi and our half Saiyajin lovers! Nothing really new to add up here, aside from the obvious: I've become addicted to this story and have decided to post chapters as quickly as I finish typing them and editing. Also, for all you Gohan/Vegeta going-to-be-a-couple wanna-bes, this chapter is for you! R&R!  
  
Chapter Thirteen  
  
~Alternate Plane of Existence~  
  
An hour had passed, maybe more, but still they continued to hold each other, unwilling to come to grips with reality. Were they so different from the rest of the world? Had they to be shunned because they loved one another? Destiny made it appear that this was what had been foretold, but still they refused to see, unable to let go in fear of losing one another. Trunks lay on the bottom, hands woven into Goten's hair as the younger demi Saiyajin rested his head on his chest, thoughts tearing at both of them. It was enough to tip them over the edges of a fool's sanity, but if either went, they'd go together.  
  
"Trunks?" It had been the first word spoken since their earlier conversation, and Goten sounded more like himself, although he felt otherwise.  
  
"What?" A sigh instead of an honest response. Why were things turning out to be so difficult for them?  
  
"When we get out of here are things going to be as they were? I mean- " He paused trying to think of the right words, but he could find none that fit what he really wanted to say.  
  
"They can't, Chibi, and you know that. Don't worry, my koibito, we'll be together, no matter what happens." This eased Goten's doubts somewhat, but he still wasn't sure about the consequences in the real world. Maybe he shouldn't worry about them so much; with Trunks by his side, helping him, they had nothing to fear, except for one outcome, and he didn't even want to think about that possibility.  
  
"I guess you're right. Should we figure out what we're going to do, then? As much as I like being here with you, I can't stand this place." Trunks laughed, both of them sitting up together.  
  
"I suppose so. What do you think is happening on Chikyuu?" Goten shrugged and stood up, languidly stretching, revealing the taut muscle in his lower abdomen as Trunks stared up at him. Kami, he really was perfect. His friend caught the look and smiled, extending a hand to him. He accepted it without a word even as he mentally began searching for his clothes.  
  
"We'll have more time for that later. If we ever get out, that is," Goten promised, also gazing into the darkness. In less time than remembering ever discarding them, they dressed in wrinkled clothing, using the opportunity as a means of silence. When they met back, Trunks minus his torn bandana, they looked almost normal.  
  
Almost.  
  
The lavender haired half Saiyajin gazed at his lover and then glanced around, trying to decide on the best way to get out. They could try destroying the wall he had become so fond of to see where it led to, and aside from that idea, he didn't really have one. Goten cleared his throat, giving Trunks the cue to glance at him, and noticing the same look in his darkened eyes, he nodded, trying to find his way back to the spot they hadn't strayed far from; they weren't called best friends for nothing. His hand brushing the surface, he stood back, feeling Goten's presence beside him, and together, they powered up, cascading the blackness with the bright aura of a Super Saiyajin. Even though the brilliance of the light wrapping their bodies displayed the contents of the room they were in, it was still considerably mysterious, but it did not bother them. They had already made up their minds.  
  
"Ka-" Goten's voice rang loud and echoed back into Trunks ears as he powered up the infamous move known only to the Son family. A grin felling his lips, Trunks gathered energy into the palms of his hands, preparing to use a simple attack that would get the job finished. He waited for the signal to unleash Hell against the wall.  
  
"Me.ha.me.HAAA!!" At the same exact moment, they fired huge quantities of ki, shattering the rock with impeccable ease. As the dust cleared, they felt a draft flowing from the large hole in the wall, and linking hands, they flew head first into the murky abyss only to fall into nothingness. Their screams echoed in their ears, and when they reached out, trying to cling to one another for support, they found the other missing, bringing more misery.  
  
What had they done?  
  
~Capsule Corporation~  
  
"There! Fix it, now!" Vegeta commanded, crossing his arms and leaning one shoulder on the edge of the wall as Gohan entered the room. Bebi once again felt himself smirking, but decided against physically showing it as he forced himself to look at the insufferable machine that would lead to the Saiyajin Prince's downfall. It really was a piece of junk, hardly worth the effort to fix, even if he had wanted to, but a plan was a plan, and he would stick to it, although there was just one thing he was still contemplating. Should he catch Vegeta from behind, similar to what he did against Gohan, or should he go in for the more suave approach?  
  
Hmm, it made one wonder if Vegeta was attracted to this body he was in. He knew that Saiyajins could swing either way, since they did not believe in the entire homosexual versus heterosexual controversy, and from the earlier reaction he'd gotten from Son Goten when he had kissed him as Trunks, their had been that undeniable response as well. Would it work? Quickly glancing at the Prince, he made an assessment, and kneeled in front of the control panel, still debating. There was only one way to find out, and that was through trial and error. Faking his intelligence of the machine before him, he reached underneath the board and pulled at some of the wires he found until sparks flew.  
  
"Shimatta," he cursed, trying to play the part of the angry scientist. It seemed to work because Vegeta was beside him, scowling down.  
  
"I told you to fix it, not break it further, you ignorant baka! You are just like your brainless father!" Bebi had to catch himself before he laughed. This was just too amusing.  
  
"Gomen, Vegeta. It shouldn't be too hard to repair, but there's just this section that won't come off." The Prince rolled his eyes.  
  
"And weak, too," he muttered as he crouched low, dark eyes scanning where Bebi-Gohan's hand was. "Where?" Plan A- success. Now, to pull of the more difficult part of his strategy.  
  
"I think it's right there," he replied, pointing to a board in the metal exterior. Vegeta's hand disappeared under the side of the control panel and easily ripped the part from its position, dropping it onto the floor.  
  
"There. Now repair the damn machine or you will suffer a most painful consequence, brat." Vegeta began to get up and Bebi panicked. He couldn't risk the chance of his next target leaving the room, and not knowing what else to do, he grabbed his wrist.  
  
"Wait, Vegeta. There's something else I need you to do for me." He watched as the Saiyajin's jaw clenched, and he pulled his arm from his grasp, glaring in part with his action.  
  
"I am not here to do you favors, b-" Gohan grabbed the sides of his face, pulling him forward, and kissed him with everything but innocence. The Prince, in too much of a shock, waited just a minute before stepping back, his hand instantly at his mouth, but not to wipe it away. Blood was running from his lower lip; Gohan had bitten him. (A/N: Kinky, isn't he?)  
  
"What are you about, boy?! This isn't some game you can play," he spat out, rubbing the bright redness between his fingers as he summed up Kakarotto's oldest brat. He'd always thought Gohan to be the quiet, very well reserved type, made for a wife and the quaint little life that he now lived. To put it blankly, he was a disgrace to the Saiyajin part of him that flowed through his veins, but now-  
  
He wasn't quite so sure.  
  
"Come on, Vegeta. You know you want this," he replied with quick finesse, edging up closer to him (A/N: Oh, don't we all just want to see it going on?) even as the Prince took a step back. A smirk crossed his lips.  
  
"You really think you can handle it, boy? I won't go easy on you."  
  
"I wouldn't expect you to, Vegeta," he whispered in a low, somewhat husky voice. Perhaps this was going to be easier than he thought. If he could only get close enough to him, then it wouldn't be so difficult.  
  
They were standing so near to each other that the heat of Vegeta's body was radiating onto his skin. The Prince brought his hands up, curling them around the back of his neck, and dragged him forward. His mouth only touched his briefly before he brought his elbow down on the back of his neck and his leg connected with Bebi-Gohan's midriff, sending him flying to meet the opposite side of the Gravity Room wall, where he smacked his head hard enough to make the floor and ceiling spin.  
  
"Very well. Let the lesson begin." Bebi grinned inwardly. If the Prince would not succumb to seduction, then fighting was just an easier answer.  
  
It would be fun watching the proud Saiyajin no Ouji fall.  
  
A/N: Ouch! I wouldn't want Vegeta as a lover.well, if I was guy I wouldn't, but I'm not and the only thing I can say is- too bad he ain't flesh and blood, hehe. I'm going to get up the next chapter as soon as I can, but due to the fact that I am starting to develop a recent writer's block, I don't know how soon that will be. Gomen- 


End file.
